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LIBRARY 



CONGRESS 




DDODSEBlibSb 






THE 



CORRESPONDENCE AND MISCELLANIES 



HON. JOHN COTTON SMITH, LL.D,, 

FORMERLY GOVEKNOH OF CONNECTICUT. 



QVn €ul0jgi3 



PRONOUNCED BEFORE THE CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
AT NEW HAVEN, MAY 27tH, 1846. 



REV. WILLIAM W. ANDREWS. 

NEW YORK: 

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 

82 CLIFF STREET. 

18 4 7. 



3 IS" 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-seven, by 

Harper & Brothers, 

in the Clerk's Oflace of the District Court of the Southern District 
of New York. 



TO 



THE CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 

AN INSTITUTION MOST HONOURABLE TO THE 
STATE, 

THIS MEMORIAL 

OF'ONE OF ITS MEMBERS 



BY 



THE EDITOR. 



PREFACE. 



After the following Eulogy was pronounced, the 
author was requested by the son of Governor Smith* 
to edit his father's correspondence and papers. In 
consequence of that request, the original intention of 
publishing the Eulogy by itself, under the direction of 
the Historical Society of Connecticut, was abandoned, 
and it was thought best to prefix it as an introduction 
to this volume. 

The following letters and miscellanies are a selec- 
tion from a large mass of papers which the Governor 
left behind him, and care has been taken to publish 
only such as the public might reasonably be expected 
to take an interest in. Several letters from the late 
Rev. Dr. Holmes, of Cambridge, Mass., are inserted 
(with the permission of his family), not only for their 
intrinsic value, but as throwing light on the character 
of his friend. They were classmates in college, and 
although they seldom met afterward, they 'kept up a 
familiar correspondence, and regarded each other with 
fraternal affection. It seemed proper to perpetuate 
the memory of their friendship by associating their 

* William M. Smith, Esq., of Sharon. 



VI PREFACE. 

lames in this public testimonial. Many of Governor 
Smith's letters to Dr. Holmes have unfortunately been 
ost. 

It may be proper to say a vv^ord or tvs^o in regard to 
some of the opinions expressed and defended in these 
3apers. Gov. Smith vs^as a thorough-going old-school 
-nan in his views of politics, theology, and language ; 
ind he stated them with great plainness, and often 
ivith warmth. It was no part of the editor's business 
;o make such selections as should express his own opin- 
ons, nor does he hold himself responsible for all that 
s advanced in the following pages. He felt it a duty 
le owed to the memory of this distinguished statesman 
ind Christian, to let him speak for himself, so far as 
;hat a correct portraiture should be given of his char- 
icter and principles, while omitting every thing that 
seemed likely to offend by its personal severity. 

The publishers are not responsible for the orthogra- 
phy of this volume. Governor Smith's own spelling has 
3een strictly followed in his own writings ;* and this, 
t will be seen, varied a little at different periods of his 
ife. He was much opposed to the innovations of Dr. 
Webster, and some parts of his essays on that subject 
ire here reprinted. He contended with a stout heart 
igainst all deviations from the Johnsonian standard ; 
md, whichever way the tide may finally turn, his ar- 
guments will be found well worth reading. 

* It is probable that some discrepancies may have crept in, from 
;he fact that the compositors are accustomed to follow Webster. 



PREFACE. Vll 

The volume is now commended to the public as a 
memorial of a man distinguished for many excellences, 
and especially for this, that throughout a long life he 
preserved from all stain the purity and nobleness of a 
Christian gentleman. 



CONTENTS. 









Paca 


I. EULOGY . 


. 13 


II. LETTERS . 


. 55 


1. To President Dwight .... 






. 57 


2. From Dr. Holmes 






. 58 


3. To Judge Daggett 






. 59 


4. From Dr. Holmes 






. 63 


5. From Dr. Holmes ..... 






. 64 


6. From Dr. Holmes 






. 65 


7. To Judge Reeve 






. 70 


8. From Dr. Holmes 






. 72 


9. From Dr. Holmes ..... 






. 73 


10. To Dr. Holmes 






. 75 


11. To Dr. Holmes 






. 76 


12. From Dr. Holmes 






. 77 


13. To Hon. S. W. Johnson 






. 80 


14. From Dr. Holmes 






. . 81 


15. To Dr. Holmes 






. 82 


16. From Dr. Holmes 






. 83 


17. To Dr. Holmes 






. . 84 


18. From Dr. Holmes . . . . . 






. 94 


19. To Mrs. Reeve, on the Death of J. Burr Reev 


e 




. 94 


20. To Dr. Holmes 






. 95 


21. To Rev. Leonard E. Lathrop, D.D. 






. 98 


22. To Hon. S. W. Johnson .... 






. 99 


23. To Dr. Holmes 






. 100 


24. From Dr. Holmes 






. 102 


25. To Mr. Humphreys .... 






. 105 


26. From Hon. Theodore Dwight 






. 107 


27. To Hon. Theodore Dwight . . . . 






. 107 


28. To Rev. Dr. Brigham .... 






. 110 


29. To Rev. Dr. Brigham .... 






. 113 


30. To Col. Geo. P. Morris .... 






. 114 


31. To Rev. Dr. MiUer 






. 115 


32. To Col. Ward 






. 117 


33. To Mrs. Eliza Evertson 






. 118 


34. To Mr. George W. Sterling . 






, 119 



X COXTEXTS. 

Page 

35. To Hon. Calvin Goddard 121 

36. To Mr. Frederick H. Wolcott 123 

37. To Hon. Samuel Ingham 124 

38. To Hon. Samuel Ingham 130 

39. To a Friend 131 

40. To Dr. M. L. North 132 

41. To the Rev. Joseph Harvey, D.D .134 

42. To a Friend .135 

43. To Dr. M. L. North 137 

44. To a Friend .138 

45. To Rev. Dr. Brigham 140 

46. To Judge Daggett .140 

47. To a Friend 142 

48. To Mrs. L. H. Sigoumey 144 

49. To Rev. Joseph Alden, D.D 146 

50. To Hon. Samuel T. Armstrong 148 

51. To Hon. Thomas Day .152 

52. To Rev. Pay son WiUiston 153 

53. To Judge Daggett 155 

54. To Gen. George P. Morris 156 

55. To Hon. Truman Smith 157 

56. To Rev. Dr. Proudfit . 159 

57. To Rev. Dr. Brigham 160 

58. To Dr. M. L. North 161 

59. To Rev. Dr. Armstrong 162 

60. To Hon. Truman Smith . 163 

61. To a Friend . . . 164 

62. To a Friend 165 

63. To Rev. Dr. Brigham . . 167 

64. To Tilly Gilbert, Esq 168 

65. To Chief-justice Spencer ....... 170 

66. To Rev. Dr. Sprague . . . . . . . .172 

e7. To Rev. Dr. Brigham . . . . . . . .173 

68. To Rev. E. W. Andrews 175 

69. To Rev. Enoch Pond, D.D 178 

70. To Rev. Dr. Brigham 179 

71. To Judge Daggett 181 

72. To a Friend 182 

73. To Dr. M. L. North 184 

74. To Judge Daggett 188 

75. To Gov. Baldwin . 190 

7Q. To Judge Daggett 192 

77. To Dr. M. L. North 192 



CONTENTS. XI 



Paea 

III. MISCELLANIES .... 195 
Washington in 1800, with a brief Notice of the First Session of 

Congress in that City 197 

Thomas Jefferson 222 

Federalism and its Fiiiits ........ 225 

Prelacy 233 

A short Colloquy between an Episcopalian and a New School Con- 

gregationalist 238 

Remarks on a Concio ad Clerum 242 

Divorce 246 

The Slaveiy Question 251 

The Slavery Question — (continued) ...... 256 

Remarks on Professor Robinson's Review of Dr. Grant's Work on 

the Ten Tribes .261 

The Purity of the English Language Defended . . . .268 

The English Language 272 

The Universal Prayer, with Alterations 279 

Bombardment and Defence of Stonington 281 



IV. APPENDICES . . . .289 

A. Memoir of the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith . . . .291 

B. Obituary of Mrs. Smith . .296 

C. Address from the Comiecticut Legislature to the President of 

the United States . 297 

D. Judicial Decisions of Governor Smith 298 

E. Speeches to the Legislatui-e 300 

F. Fast-Day Proclamation 310 

G. Bible Society Addresses 312 

H. Address to the Litchfield County Temperance Society . ' . 322 
I. Address to the Alumni of Yale College, at their annual meet- 
ing in August, 1845 323 

K. Obituary of Rev. Gilbert Livingston Smith .... 327 



EULOGY, &c. 



Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Historical Society, — 

It is a noble work which you have undertaken, to 
gather up and preserve for future generations the me- 
morials of Connecticut. It is worthy the sons of an hon- 
oured mother, to illustrate her ancient manners, to exhib- 
it the principles on which her institutions were founded, 
and to rescue from oblivion and hold up to the admira- 
tion of posterity, the heroic deeds of her children. And 
the office which, by your request, I am now to perform, 
of discoursing on the Life and Times of the late Gov- 
ernor Smith, is in entire accordance with the spirit of 
your enterprise ; for while his high official rank and 
eminent services to his native state make him worthy 
of such honourable notice, his long retirement from pub- 
lic life has joined him to the Past. A generation has 
nearly passed away since he left the gubernatorial 
chair, and ceased to take any active part in political 
contests and measures ; and nowhere could his public 
career be made the subject of eulogy more fitly than 
before the Historical Society of Connecticut. And, al- 
though there are many reasons why the task should 
have been assigned to a civilian, yet, as the magistrates 
and ministers of Connecticut (to use a favourite illustra- 
tion of our fathers) were formerly associated, as Moses 
and Aaron in the deliverance of Israel, it may not be 
unseemly for a successor of the Puritan clergy to pour- 
tray the character, and eulogize the virtues, of the last 



14 EULOGY. 

of her Puritan governors. I claim, too, one qualifica- 
tion (somewhat rare, I fear) for the office of eulogist — 
sympathy with his principles as a statesman, which 
were those of the elder times of our commonwealth — 
and I shall trust to be held guiltless of trespassing on 
the proprieties of the occasion, if I exhibit and defend 
them with manly freedom. Standing before a socie- 
ty which concerns itself with the past alone, and med- 
dles not with the controversies of the day, I shall speak 
without reference to existing parties ; but if any shall 
deem me to use words of too lofty encomium in speak- 
ing of a by-gone age, they will pardon something to 
the filial spirit which dictated them. 

In the year 1639, the inhabitants of Windsor, Hart- 
ford, and Wethersfield entered into that compact by 
which Connecticut was first constituted a common- 
wealth. At that time, the Rev. Henry Smith* was the 
minister of Wethersfield, and, of course, a party to the 
transaction which gave existence to our state govern- 
ment. A few years before, the Rev. John Cotton and 
the Rev. Richard Mather, harassed by the persecutions 
to which the Non-conformists were subjected, left their 
mother-country and sought refuge in the feeble colo- 
nies of New England. The former had been a man 
of great distinction in his native land, first as a learned 
scholar and eloquent orator in the University of Cam- 
bridge, and afterward as a laborious and successful 
minister of the Established Church in Boston, Lincoln- 
shire ; and during the almost twenty years that he 
was teacher of the Church in the infant capital of Mas- 
sachusetts, he wielded an extraordinary influence, both 

* It is not known what year he came from England. He was not 
the Rev. Henry Smith who was at one time settled at Hingham, Mas- 
sachusetts. 



EULOGY. 15 

in civil and ecclesiastical affairs. The latter, who was 
educated at Oxford, and laboured for many years as a 
clergyman of the Church of England in Toxteth, Lanca- 
shire, landed on our coasts in 1635, and the next year 
removed to Dorchester, where he resided till his death, 
enjoying a high reputation as a theologian, and emi- 
nently useful in the controversies of his time. His son, 
the Rev. Increase Mather, was for almost sixty years 
pastor of the North Church in Boston, and for twenty 
years president of Harvard College ; a man of strong 
faith, much spiritual wisdom and prophetic insight, and 
abundant in his labours for the Church and the State. 
He will ever be remembered in the political history of 
Massachusetts for the important diplomatic service he 
rendered in obtaining a new charter, after four years 
of indefatigable labour at the court of St. James. He 
married a daughter of the Rev. John Cotton, and from 
this marriage sprung the Rev. Cotton Mather, of world- 
wide reputation as the author of Magnalia Christi 
Americana, and justly renowned for his multifarious 
(though ill-assorted, and often ill-applied) learning, un- 
wearied industry, and boundless benevolence. Of his 
daughter Jerusha,* who was married to a grandson of 
the Rev. Henry Smith — Mr. Samuel Smith, of Suffield 
— was born the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, the father 
of the subject of our eulogy. He was for more than 
fifty years the minister of the church in Sharon, in this 
state, where his name is still preserved in the affection- 
ate traditions of the people, as a sound divine, a most 
faithful and tender-hearted pastor, and a man of great 
personal dignity.f His wife was a daughter of the 

* She died in Sharon, in the family of her son, in 1789, aged eighty-nine, 
t See Appendix A, for a memoir of Mr. Smith,, written by his son, 
and published in the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine. 



16 EULOGY. 

Rev. William Worthington, of Saybrook, one of the old 
Puritan women, in whom faith was the fountain of 
mild dignity and earnest well-doing. She was the 
Lady Bountiful of her husband's parish, where she was 
revered as a mother : and, in the circle of her own 
household, she diffused a charm by the sweetness of 
her disposition, as she blessed it by the wisdom of her 
domestic management.* 

Of these parents John Cotton Smith was born, in 
Sharon, February 12th, 1765 ; and he could thus num- 
ber among his ancestors no less than seven of the cler- 
gy of New England, several of whom are illustrious 
names in her history, and three of whom were among 
the founders and framers of her institutions. 

I shall be pardoned for going into these details be- 
fore a historical society, especially as they furnish a 
clew to one of the strongest influences in the formation 
of Governor Smith's character. His ancestral attach- 
ments were very strong ; he gloried in his descent from 
the Puritan worthies ; and, as much as any one of his 
time, he was controlled by their principles, and actua- 
ted by their spirit. 

It was the great blessing of his childhood to receive 
his training in one of the best of the old New England 
households, where Law stood embodied in patriarchal 
authority and dignity, and Christian Faith gave the 
key-note to the domestic harmonies ; and much of the 
loveliness and elevation of his character was doubtless 
owing to the pure and quickening atmosphere of his 
father's house.f There he formed those habits of sub- 

* See Appendix B. 

t It is said of bim that, when quite a child, he was reported to hia 
mother as having been saucy to a poor man of the neighbourhood. 
Though he firmly denied it, the proof was. so strong that she punished 



17 

EULOGY. ^ ' 



ordination, and acquired that lofty self-contro which 
marked his future life. No man had more of filial rev- 
erence than he; his intercourse with his parents was 
ever marked by a manner the most respectful, and their 
memory was cherished by him with the most affection- 
ate veneration. He was one of many proofs, how much 
the excellence of the New England character has had 
its ground-work laid in the religious constitution of her 

families. . , , _^^^ 

His early education, till he was six years o d, was 
committed to his mother; and he pursued his class^al 
studies, partly at Sharon, and partly with the Re v Mr. 
Brinsmade, of Washington. He entered Yale College 
in 1779, being then in his fifteenth year.* Though so 
young, he passed through his collegiate course with 
honour, acquiring a high rank as a scholar, and pre- 
serving his moral principles and habits from the slight- 
est stain-a preservation which he always ascribed to 
the affection he had for his mother, and his dread to 
do aught that should grieve her. It was at the time 
of the Revolution, the heroic era in our annals, when 
the energies of the people were quickened to the ut- 
most-the birth-throes of our national existence, to- 
wards which we had been steadily advancing from the 
first; and, although the youthful student took no part 

hnn. But his grief at being thought capable of such a thing, and at 
ft Un^ under Ms mother's displeasure, was so great, that he never rest- 
ed ti! he had brought to her the man, who at once cleared h.m from 

*t the Mowing wmter his father went to bring him home for the 
vacation. A great snow-storm came on, and they were compelled to 
Lrrtheir sle^h in Woodbury, and travel to Bethlehem on horseback. 
Bv ttattime the roads had become impassable to horses, and, feanng 
latTey mLht be wholly blocked up, they set out, with Dr. Bellamys 
*:ction!on"sunday aftLoon, on snow-shoes, reached Washington 
that night, Warren the next day, and home on the third. 



1^ EULOGY. 



in the war, his whole heart went with his country in 
her struggle for independence. His father was a zeal- 
ous patriot, having served as chaplain in the campaign 
of 1775, and full of hope as to the issue, even in the 
darkest reverses.* The son partook of the father's 
spirit, and, with the hopefulness of youth, anticipated a 
high and honourable destiny for his new-born country.f 

* I take the foHowmg from the " Connecticut Historical Collections." 
" The approach of a large British army from Canada, under General 
Burgoyne, and the expedition up the North River, under General 
Vaughan, in 1777, fiUed the whole country with terror and desponden- 
cy, and created strong fears and doubts as to the issue of the contro- 
versy. The firmness and confidence of Parson Smith, however re- 
mained unbroken, and his efforts to revive the drooping spirits of his 
people were unremitted. In the month of October he preached a ser- 
mon from these words, ' Watchman, what of the night ? The Watch- 
man saith, the morning cometh.' In this discourse he dwelt much 
upon the indications, which the dealings of Providence afforded, that a 
bright and glorious morning was about to dawn upon a long night of 
defeat and disaster. He told the congregation that he believed they 
would soon hear of a signal victory crowning the arms of America ; and 
he exhorted them to trust with an unshaken and feariess confidence in 
that God who, he believed, would yet crown with success the efforts 
of the friends of liberty in this country. Before the congregation was 
dismissed, a messenger arrived with the inteUigence of the surrender 
of Burgoyne's army. Parson Smith read the letter conveying the in- 
teUigence from the pulpit, and a flood of joy and gratitude burst from 
the congregation." 

A body of Hessians, belonging to the same army, marched through 
Sharon after their capture, and their oflicers were hospitably entertain- 
ed at Parson Smith's. The next mommg, when drawn up for march, 
they sang psalms in their noble language, and then moved on to the 
sound of sacred music. His son, then twelve years old, was so much 
dehghted with it, that he followed them a long way on their march, 
and he often spoke of it vdth enthusiasm afterwards. 

t The foUovsring extracts from a letter written to Governor Smith 
while in college, by the late Noah Webster, LL.D., then residing in 
Sharon, may throw some Hght on his literary reputation and patriotic 
feeUngs at that time, as they show the high hopes which then stirred 
the hearts of the young : 

"I received with gratitude, and read with delight the oration you 



EULOGY. 19 

He graduated in 1783, the year of the termination 
of the war, and immediately entered on the study of 
law in the office of John Canfield, Esq., in his native 
village. When he was to take his degree of master 
of arts, he was appointed by President Stiles, in con- 
nection with his classmates, Morse* and Daggett (the 
latter of whom, the late venerable chief-justice of the 
state, a most intimate and beloved friend of Governor 
Smith, yet survives, to honour us this night with his 
presence), to take part in a forensic disputation on the 
question " Whether Laws ought to be established in 
the United States for the Regulation of Expenses in 
Diet, Dress, and Equipage ;" but he does not appear to 
have fulfilled the appointment. 

Bent me. It revives in my mind the endearing idea I ever had of your 
amiable instnictor, and makes me regret a separation from him and 
from that sort of Uterature. The elegant and animated language of the 
oration does no less honor to the head, than the manly, patriotic senti- 
ments do to the heart of the author. It is a valuable, as w^ell as agree- 
able production. It shall be laid at the bottom of my chest ; it ehaU 
be rescued from the rough hands of time, or careless readers, and pre- 
served as a monument of my affection for its author, when death or 
other circumstances shall prohibit a reciprocal intercourse of friendship 
and kind offices." "You know the value of that quadrennial period 
of life which students are apt to neglect, and which, once elapsed, nev- 
er retui-ns. And if I may give my opinion without the imputation of 
flattery, I must think that a proper cultivation of your genius can not 
fail to satisfy the expectations of your friends. American empire will 
be the theatre on which the last scene of the stupendous drama of na- 
ture shall be exhibited. Here the numerous and complicated parts of 
the actors shall be brought to a conclusion ; here the impenetrable 
mysteries of the Divine system shaU be disclosed to the view of the in- 
telligent creation ; here the disorders which vice has introduced shall 
be corrected, and the happiness of the human race completed. You and 
I may have considerable parts to act in this plan, and it is a matter of 
consequence to furnish the mind with enlarged ideas of men and things, 
to extend our wishes beyond ourselves, our friends, or our country, 
and include the whole system in the expanded grasp of benevolence." 
* Rev. Jedediah Morse, D.D. 



20 EULOGY. 

In 1786,* he was admitted to the oar in Litchfield 
county, then inferior to none in the state for the brill- 
iant array of legal and forensic talent which it present- 
ed,! and immediately entered on his professional la- 
bours. In spite of the formidable competition he en- 
countered, he soon attained a high reputation and a 
lucrative practice ; and, in the words of a distinguish- 
ed Hving member of that bar,t who knew him well, 
" He was esteemed, and justly so, an accurate pleader, 
and a well-read, learned lawyer ; and though some of 
those mentioned excelled him in power and popularity 
as advocates, none of them surpassed, and, in my judg- 
ment, none equalled him in grace of manner or ele- 
gance of diction and utterance." The thoroughness 
of his attainments in legal science appears from this, 
that in the very latest years of his life, when long with- 
drawn from practice, he showed perfect familiarity 
with the great principles of law, and was able to cite 
cases from memory with remarkable readiness. 

In 1793, he w^as first chosen to represent his native 
town in the General Assembly ; and from 1796 to 1800 
(when he entered on his Congressional career) he was, 
without interruption, a member of the Lower House. 
At the October session, 1799, he was appointed clerk ; 
and in both of the sessions of the following year he 
was elevated to the speaker's chair. 

* On the 29tli of October of that year, he was maii-ied to Miss Mar- 
garet Evertson, of Ameuia, Dutchess county, New York, with whom 
he lived more than fifty years. She died May 10th. 1837. 

t I may mention Reeve, not more distinguished for his wisdom and 
learning as a jurist, gi'eat as these confessedly were, than for the extra- 
ordinary excellence of his moi'al and religious character ; Tracy, sur- 
passed by none in sparkling wit and subduing eloquence ; and Nathan- 
iel Smith, who, by the energy of a most masculine understanding, 
forced his way through great disadvantages to the highest professional 
eminence. t Hon. D. S. Boardraan, of New Milford. 



EULOGY. 21 

Mr. Smith, as might have been anticipated, early 
espoused the cause of the Federal Union, and support- 
ed the administration to which the government w^as 
first committed under the new Constitution. The Rev- 
olution, while it freed the colonies from the rule of the 
mother-country, left them in an enfeebled, perplexed, 
and almost chaotic state. They were reeling under 
the burden of debts incurred in the prosecution of the 
war ; a licentious, insubordinate spirit was every where 
rife ; insurrections were breaking out ; the central gov- 
ernment (if, by a misnomer, I may call it a govern- 
ment) was utterly powerless as to the collection of 
revenue, or the maintenance of authority ; the credit 
of the confederacy was gone, at home and abroad ; 
and the faces of men began to gather blackness as they 
thought of the future. It was soon felt that something 
more than liberty, or freedom from foreign domination, 
was wanted ; that some organific principle must be in- 
troduced to stay the process which was fast dissolving 
us into chaos ; that a government — not a sham, but a 
verity — must be established, to be the central heart and 
the vigorous arm of the whole confederacy, and, with- 
out impairing the reasonable liberties of the states, to 
be the strong and majestic representative of the na- 
tional unity, and the organ of the national resources. 
We were in imminent danger of falling apart and be- 
ing irretrievably broken, through the inordinate power 
of the separate sovereignties ; and there was no escape 
but by creating a strong centripetal force in our system, 
which should bind every star in its harmonious orbit. 
The question touching the Federal Constitution was a 
vital one, and so the wisest statesmen felt it to be. The 
retrieval of our credit, the organization of our industry, 
the re-invigoration of the dominion of law,Jthe awaken- 



22 EULOGY. 

ing of hope in the hearts of the people, all depended 
on the estabHshment of a government with functions 
of guidance and rule, with powers not advisory but 
coercive, to keep every state in its rightful sphere, and 
thus save us from bankruptcy, dishonour, and ruin. 
The principles in which Mr. Smith had been educated 
made him the firm friend of the Constitution, in which 
he saw the only hope of national prosperity ; and he sus- 
tained with characteristic ardor and energy the party 
which secured its adoption. He gloried to the last in 
being of the school of Washington and Jay ; no regard 
to a deteriorated public sentiment caused him to swerve 
one hair's breadth from his original position, or made 
him ashamed of the name of Federalist, with which he 
believed the brightest period in our annals to be indis- 
solubly associated. 

The political character of our statesmen during most 
of the time that Governor Smith was in public life, 
was determined by the views they took of two great 
subjects — the Federal Union, of which I have just spok- 
en, and the principles and policy of revolutionized 
France. He was in his early manhood when the Rev- 
olution took place in that kingdom, and if he at first, in 
common with the great body of his countrymen, who 
could not but sympathize with the people that aided 
them in their perilous struggles, mistook the lurid 
flames of the volcano for the light of a new morning 
rising on the nations, it was a momentary delusion. 
His reverential feelings, his manly integrity, his do- 
mestic virtues, were all shocked by the atrocities of the 
direful tragedy which so quickly followed the dazzling 
play of philosophical and philanthropical fire-works. 
He saw the Revolution to be the struggle and triumph 
of unbelief, the outburst and ravage of satanic pride in 



EULOGY. 23 

man, which the ordinances of society are appointed, 
and are, for the most part, able to restrain. Though 
occasioned by gross corruptions and abuses in the old 
institutions of the kingdom, and therefore a righteous 
retribution on the shepherds who had not fed the flock, 
he felt it to be the most atrocious revolt against the 
government of God, the most systematic rejection of 
His truth, and the most daring defiance of His author- 
ity that the world had ever seen ; and he looked on 
the horrible cruelties and shameless indecencies which 
were perpetrated in its course, as the legitimate fruits 
of its godless spirit. Liberty, of the French type, he 
utterly loathed ; he feared the influence of France on 
the principles and moral feelings of his countrymen, 
and shrank from all intimate communion with her as 
from contact with a lazar-house.* 

* The following extract is from an oration pronounced by him in 
Sharon, July 4th, 1798 : " This revolution, the greatest scourge, per- 
haps, which a holy God has yet permitted to visit the earth, has hith- 
erto been ascribed to causes which, in truth, have had Hltle or no agen- 
cy in producing it. The subject is now better understood, and we 
discover with certainty that those principles which we had fondly be- 
lieved to be the efficient springs of this revolution, never, in fact, oper- 
ated at all. You doubtless thought, as all Americans, indeed, thought, 
that oppression made the French people mad ; but it was not so. You 
thought it was the intolerable tyranny of the crown, the insolence of 
the nobility, and the enormous exactions of a corrupt priesthood which 
roused the nation to a sense of its wrongs ; but this is not true. You 
thought, for you had yourselves felt the sacred flame, that it was the 
enthusiastic love of liberty which rose like a torrent, and with resist- 
less force bore down the throne, the bastile, the altars, arts, institutions, 
every vestige of the former state of things, and buried all in one pro. 
miscuous ruin ; yet nothing is more incorrect. That the government 
was arbitrary, and the people oppressed, can not be contradicted ; and 
that the state of the foi-mer called loudly for reform, and the condition 
of the latter for great amelioration, is equally evident. The destruc- 
tion of despotism, and the establishment of national liberty upon its 
ruins, is a consummation devoutly to be ivisked. But let it be remem- 



24 EULOGY. 

Such were his convictions early in his poHtical Hfe, 
and such they remained to the end. As he was not 
led astray by the false shows of liberty during the days 
of the Republic, neither was he dazzled by the fiery 
splendor of Napoleon's career ; for he saw that one 
spirit ruled under all these outward transformations, 
and that the mighty monarch before whom Europe 
trembled was but a Jacobin on the throne. It is dif- 
ficult for us of this age to make real to ourselves the 
intense interest, the mingled terror and exultation with 
which the varying aspects of French affairs were re- 
garded, from the first breaking out of the Revolution 
to the final catastrophe at Waterloo. Nor can the 
character of any statesman of that time be understood 
without knowing where his sympathies were in that 
great struggle by which all Europe was convulsed, 
and which constitutes a new and grand epoch in the 
history of Christendom. The two great parties in our 
country were divided upon the question : the one clung 
to that past of which England, as a Christian state, 
guarding its altars and its firesides from the slime of 
Jacobinism, was the representative ; the other rushed 

bered, the nation had submitted to a monarchy for ages without a sin- 
gle attempt to cast it off; they had become proverbial for their attach- 
ment to royalty, and for a species of idolatry to the persons of their 
monarchs. It must also be admitted that the people laboured under 
no new and unprecedented wrongs ; on the contrary, their last sover- 
eign was the most amiable in his character, the mildest and most mod- 
erate in his administration of any princes who had ever swayed their 
regal sceptre. To what, then, shall we ascribe the convulsions which 
are shaking Europe to its centre, and which threaten to shake our 
Western world ? The answer to this question is of high importance ; 
it has long been conjectured by discerning men, but may be now said 
to rest in positive proof. It seems well ascertained that the French 
Revolution is tlie result chiefly of a combination long since formed in 
Europe, by infidels and Atheists, to root out and efiectually destroy re- 
ligion and civil government." 



EULOGY. 25 

towards that future which was imaged in imperial 
France, rising out of the abyss of the Revolution, Uke 
the gorgeous palace of pandemonium. Mr. Smith 
went heart and hand with the former,* resisting every 
attempt to entangle our country with French allian- 
ces, and allowing no lingering animosity towards Great 
Britain to blind him to the noble struggle she was mak- 
ing for true freedom and the Christian faith. Now 
that the battle with the mother-country had been fair- 
ly fought and fairly won, he was willing to let by- 
gones be by-gones ; and he would not, in recoiling 
from brethren of the same race, and language, and re- 
ligion, rush into the arms of a nation by which the 
truths and ordinances of Christianity had been cast off 
in malignant hatred and scorn. So much needed to 
be said to indicate and to justify Governor Smith's po- 
sition as a statesman. 

In October, 1800, he was chosen a member of Con- 
gress, of the circumstances of which I find the follow- 
ing account among his papers : " A vacancy having 
occurred in the delegation from this state, by the resig- 
nation of one of her members, a writ of election was 
issued for the choice of a successor, returnable to the 
session of the General Assembly in October. At that 
session I was speaker, and under little or no appre- 
hension of being chosen to fill the vacancy just men- 
tioned, especially as there were two or three other 
names standing above mine in the Congressional nom- 
ination.f On canvassing the votes, however, both for 
the special member, and for the entire representation 

* See Appendix C. 

t '' At that period oiu' members of Congress were chosen by general 
ticket, from a nomination of eighteen candidates previously made by 
the electors." 

B 



26 EULOGY. 

of Connecticut in the seventh Congress, it was my lot 
to be designated to both stations. The event was un- 
expected, and the question of acceptance occasioned 
much embarrassment. I was in full practice at the 
bar, and strongly, not to say passionately, attached to 
domestic life ; both of which would, in no small de- 
gree, be sacrificed by a compliance with the wishes of 
my constituents. No time was allowed to confer with 
my beloved wife and venerable father, to both of whose 
opinions I was accustomed to pay the utmost respect. 
On the other hand, my assent to the call of the people 
was urged by Governor Trumbull and other gentle- 
men in terms which, as a professed patriot, I found it 
impossible to resist." Beautiful portraiture of the time 
when office was regarded as a sacred trust to be con- 
ferred on the worthy, not as a prize to be scrambled 
after for its spoils ! 

When he entered Congress, the Federal administra- 
tion was still in power ; but the close of that session 
saw the sceptre pass out of its hands, and the party 
with which he acted lost its national ascendency for- 
ever. During almost the whole of his Congressional 
career, he was in the minority ; and the honours which 
he received were not, therefore, the reward of a par- 
tizan by a dominant faction. Nor did he ever seek to 
conciliate his political opponents by any hiding of his 
opinions ; he was an open, decided, uncompromising 
opponent ; and yet, such were his talents as a states- 
man, such his bearing as a gentleman, and such the 
spotless integrity of his character, as- to command the 
respect and win the confidence of the House and of the 
country during times of the most violent party excite- 
ment. After the first session, he was Chairman of the 
Committee of Claims so long as he held his seat (with 



EULOGY. 27 

the exception of one winter, when his necessary ab- 
sence led him to decline it) ; a most laborious office at 
that time, when there was less subdivision of duties in 
Congress than now, but which he filled with great abil- 
ity and reputation. Clear-sighted, prompt, energetic, 
and indefatigable, he was able rapidly to disentangle 
the most perplexed subjects, and present them with 
luminous distinctness ; while his lofty rectitude, never 
soiled even by the breath of suspicion, gave moral 
weight to his decisions, as coming from one who could 
never sacrifice justice to party or even national ends. 

But it was not in private committees, and by aptness 
for business alone, that he was distinguished ; he was 
a nobleman by nature, born for rule, and the qual- 
ities that had raised him to the speaker's chair in the 
Legislature of Connecticut were more nobly develop- 
ed on the wider theatre of Congress. In an assembly 
of gentlemen (for our National Legislature had not 
then become an arena for blackguards and buffoons), 
•no one was so well fitted to preside as he. His com- 
manding dignity, his manly firmness, the quick discern- 
ment which left nothing undiscovered, and the prompt- 
itude in decision which never hesitated, eminently qual- 
ified him to take the lead of the House in the stormiest 
debates. With that lofty port and bearing which in- 
spired universal respect, there was joined great suavity 
of manner, which had power to charm the agitated 
elements to peace. No man could control an excited 
assembly with more majesty and grace ; none more 
effectually win an antagonist, by the impartiality of his 
decisions and the courtesy of his deportment. He did 
not often engage in debate, but he could rule it, in its 
wildest moods, with masterful skill. He was oftener 
called to the chair in Committee of the Whole than any 



28 EULOGY. ^ 

Other member, especially when those questions were 
before the House which were most fitted to awaken 
party animosities ;* and during the celebrated discus- 
sion on the judiciary, in 1801, he presided to universal 
acceptance — on one occasion, when the excitement 
Was at its height, sitting immovable in his place, with 
the firm endurance of a Roman senator, for twelve 
hours. 

His Congressional career closed in 1806, when he 
resigned his seat for the sake of his father, that he 
might minister to the comfort of his old age. Public 
life, in itself, had no charms for him, though he dis- 
charged its duties with rehgious fidehty; and when 
filial affection and reverence threw their weight into 
the scale with his strong domestic attachments, he 
gladly withdrew from its honours and burdens to the 
bosom of his family. His course had been eminent- 
ly honourable and useful. His intellectual activity, 
soundness of judgment, and habits of systematic indus- 
try qualified him for those business labours to which 
mere eloquence is inadequate ; and as a high-minded 
statesman and an accomplished gentleman, he had no 
superior. There was a nobility about him which no 
one could trifle with — such as extorted the admiration 
and commanded the respect of that eccentric and fiery 
spirit, John Randolph, who was never lavish of his 
compliments on Northern men. It was his peculiar 
honour, in an assembly which could boast of Otis, and 
Griswold, and Bayard, and Lee, and Harper, and 

* A distinguished member of Congress from. Massachusetts thus play- 
fully wrote to him in 1806. " But, first and chiefest, instruct me con- 
cerning him who used so often, when presiding in Committee of the 
Whole, to beckon us to be solemn, while Randolph, executing on his 
party a holy justice with his whip of scorpions, made 

' Strange horror seize them, and pangs unfelt before.' " 



EULOGY. 29 

Pinckney, to excel in those commanding qualities of 
personal character which fit men for rule.* 

On his retirement from Congress, he did not resume 
practice at the bar, but devoted himself to the manage- 
ment of his farm, and to those literary pursuits which 
were congenial to his refined taste. But his townsmen 
would not suffer his talents to be wholly buried. He 
was sent to the Lower House of the State Legislature 
in the autumn of the same year, when he was chosen 
speaker ; and he represented his native town without 
intermission till 1809, when he became a member of 
the Council. In October of that year he was elevated 
to the bench ; and here I have the pleasure of speaking 
in the words of another, a distinguished ornament of 
the bar, and of this society.f who has drawn up the fol- 
lowing sketch at my request : 

" In August, 1809, Governor Trumbull died ; and the 
Legislature, at its session in October following, appoint- 
ed Lieutenant-governor Treadwell to fill the vacancy ; 
and the vacancy produced by this appointment was 
filled by taking Roger Griswold from the bench of the 
Superior Court. Upon the same Legislature devolved 
the duty of selecting the successor of Judge Griswold 
on the bench. The Connecticut Bar had at no time 
been adorned with a greater number of learned, able, 
and experienced jurists than at this. Without the aid 
of a caucus, or the influence of any party machinery, 

* " The speaker, I believe, always appoints as Chairman of the Com- 
mittee of the Whole one of the five follovidiag persons : Varnum, Daw- 
son, Gregg, Tenny, or J. C. Smith; and the last-mentioned is the only 
one that keeps order ; indeed, he is by far the most proper person for 
speaker in the House." 

The above, written by the Washington correspondent of some paper, 
was published in the Hartford Courant, 1806. 

t Hon. Thomas Day. 



30 EULOGY. 

the choice fell upon John Cotton Smith. He had not 
been in extensive practice as a lawyer ;* much of his 
time and attention, since he became a member of the 
profession, had been employed in legislative duties; no 
one supposed him to be as well versed in the tech- 
nicalities and positive institutions of municipal jurispru- 
dence as many others ; but the appointing power knew 
that he had more important qualifications ; that his 
mind was well stored with the principles of law ; that 
he had quick discernment and sound judgment to direct 
their application ; that he had cultivated habits of pa- 
tience, diligence, and courteous bearing ; and, above 
all, it was believed that he would exercise his judicial 
functions with strict impartiality and incorruptible in- 
tegrity, fearing God rather than man. There were at 
that time nine judges of the Superior Court, constitu- 
ting, when assembled, the Supreme Court of Errors. 
Judge Smith took his seat beside Chief-justice Mitchell, 
of deportment no less dignified and courteous than his 
own ; beside his venerated friend, the learned Reeve ; 
beside other able and acute jurists, of scarcely less em- 
inence. He felt himself at once among kindred minds. 
His new duties seemed not less congenial to him than 
those o( any former situation in which he had been 
placed. 

" At this time the Superior Court, when trying issues 
in fact, and other matters cognizable by that court, was 
composed of three of the nine judges, the eldest of 
whom presided and charged the jury. Judge Smith, 
being the youngest judge, was probably never called 
upon to preside in court or to charge the jury. In that 

* It would be more strictly true to say long practice, for his practice 
was extensive for a country lawyer, at the time of his election to 
Congi-ess. 



EULOGY. 31 

situation he had little else to do than to give his opin- 
ion upon interlocutory questions arising in the course 
of the trial, to aid his brethren in their consultations, 
and to share with them the responsibility of the final 
determination. As these proceedings have never been 
chronicled to the public, and as an entire generation of 
men, with here and there an individual exception, has 
passed away since they were had, it is difficult to as- 
certain the precise character of the part which Judge 
Smith bore in them. From what is known of his qual- 
ifications, principles, and habits, it may safely be con- 
cluded that here, as elsewhere, he acted well his part. 

"As a member of the Supreme Court of Errors, his 
situation was different. It was made, by statute, the 
duty of the judges of that court to give their opinions, 
in all matters of law by them decided, publicly and sep- 
arately. The practice adopted by the court, under 
this statute, was to designate, in each case, one of their 
number who was in the majority, to give the first opin- 
ion, in wdiich the reasons of the decision were stated at 
length; and then the other judges concurred or dis- 
sented, according to their respective views. At the 
only term of this court which was held while Judge 
Smith was a member of it, he gave the first opinion in 
four cases, wdiich appear with the other cases in the 
reports of that period. A critical examination of these 
opinions would be out of place here, and yet some no- 
tice of them seems appropriate to our subject.* 

" Before another term of the court was held, a va- 
cancy occurred in the office of lieutenant-governor, by 
the promotion of Roger Griswold to the chief magis- 
tracy of the state, and Judge Smith was called from 
the bench to fill that vacancy. It is known to some of 

* See Appendix D. 



32 EULOGY. 

his surviving friends, who v^^ere honoured with his con- 
fidence, that he left the court reluctantly. His judicial 
duties were agreeable to him, and he was attached to 
his associates. But he deemed it his duty to obey the 
public voice ; and that was decisive with him." 

Of his associates on the bench, the venerable Bald- 
win, the father of our late honoured chief magistrate, is 
the only survivor. Far distant be the day when the 
state shall be called to mourn for him ! 

In May, 1811, he was chosen lieutenant-governor. 
The sickness of Governor Griswold during the summer 
of 1812 imposed unusual duties upon him; and the 
death of the chief magistrate, in October of that year, 
made him the acting governor. For the four following 
years, and until the political revolution of the state in 
1817, he was elected to the gubernatorial chair, which 
he filled, as he had every oflice, with eminent ability 
and faithfulness. The leading events of his adminis- 
tration grew out of the war with England ; and of 
them I must briefly speak, in justice to his character, 
though the embers be still glowing under the ashes. 

He assumed the government at a time of great em- 
barrassment and perplexity. The war was unpopular 
with the great body of the people of Connecticut, as 
uncalled for, and, even if necessary, entered upon with- 
out the needful preparations for defence. Our har- 
bours and shipping were in an exposed condition ; the 
fortifications along the coast had been neglected, and 
were decaying ; and most of the regular troops had 
been withdrawn from the sea-board, though it was 
from the naval force of the enemy that the greatest 
danger was to be apprehended. To increase the em- 
barrassment, the general and state governments had 
been brought into collision ; for Governor Griswold, 



EULOGY. 33 

acting with the advice of his council, had refused to 
comply with a requisition for troops to be under the 
command of the United States officer at Fort Trumbull 
(near New London), on the two- fold ground that the 
constitutional exigencies authorizing such a call did not 
exist, and that the militia " could not be compelled to 
serve under any other than their own officers, with the 
exception of the president himself when personally in 
the field." 

Such was the situation of affairs when Governor 
Smith took the chair. He had been a warm opponent 
of the principles and measures which led to the decla- 
ration of war ; he sympathized with Great Britain, not 
with France, in their fearful struggle, on the issue of 
which he believed the welfare of Christendom to hang ; 
but when he saw his country actually involved in the 
contest, he did not hesitate for a moment. To use his 
own words, " he was resolved to defend the state at 
every hazard, and to fulfil his Federal obligations up 
to the spirit and letter of the Constitution." When the 
American squadron, under Decatur, was driven into the 
harbour of New London by a British fleet, to the great 
consternation of the town and neighbouring coast, he 
instantly called a large body of militia into service, and 
took the most efficient measures to repel any attack. 
The principles on which he acted — those of genuine 
patriotism — were well stated in his speech to the Leg- 
islature in October of that year. " The government of 
Connecticut, the last to invite hostilities, should be the 
first to repel aggression. In my view, it was not a 
time to inquire into the character of our enemy, or the 
causes which made him such, when our territory was 
invaded, and our citizens were demanding protection ; 
and when no inconsiderable part of our gallant navy 

B2 



34 EULOGY. 

was exposed, within our own waters, to instant capture 
or destruction."* 

And when, the next year (1814), the British fleet 
threatened to lay waste our whole coast, and Petti- 
pauge (Saybrook) was attacked, and all the shipping, 
consisting of upwards of twenty sail, was burned, he 
acted with equal vigour and efficiency ; and, although 
the United States commanding officer. Brigadier-gen- 
eral Gushing, refused to recognize the Connecticut 
troops as being in the service of the United States, be- 
cause they were under the command of their own ma- 
jor-general, and withheld all supplies, he did not with- 
draw them from the field, but assumed on the state the 
responsibility of their pay and subsistence throughout 
the whole campaign. He would defend the constitu- 
tional rights of Connecticut in respect to her militia 
against all usurpation; but he was ready to co-operate 
with the General Government to the utmost, within 
these limits, in defending the country. No reproach 
was ever cast upon him by his opponents for his man- 
agement of the war, however much they might have 
regretted his abstract opinions ; all admitted his pa- 
triotism, and applauded the promptitude and energy 
with which he acted against the foe.f 

The life of a governor of Connecticut is generally 
tranquil, and furnishes few incidents for history. The 
narrow limits of our territory, the orderly habits of our 
people, and the fixed character of our institutions, leave 
little to be done by our rulers beyond calm supervision, 

* See Appendix D. 

t Proof of this will be found in looking over files of the newspapers 
of that day. The Democratic press, with no exception worth speaking 
of, spoke in high terms of praise of the governor's course in relation to 
the war. 



EULOGY. 35 

and such gentle amendments as the change of circum- 
stances may require. Apart from the war, there is 
nothing demanding especial notice in Governor Smith's 
administration. He adorned the station by the con- 
summate grace and dignity with which he appeared 
on all public occasions ; all the duties and proprieties 
of the office were most faithfully discharged and ob- 
served, and his state papers were distinguished for per- 
spicuity and classic elegance. He was always equal 
to the occasion. 

Governor Smith was the last governor under the old 
regime. He went out of office in consequence of a po- 
litical revolution in the state, which changed radically 
the spirit, and led to a speedy change in the Constitu- 
tion of our commonwealth. This constitutes such an 
epoch in our history as to demand a moment's notice. 
Connecticut was planted by Christian men, and on 
Christian principles. The grand aim of the colonists 
was to build up a Christian state, a system of institu- 
tions which should be as a holy temple in honour of 
Almighty God, founded on the recognition of His au- 
thority, reared in accordance with His will, and sol- 
emnly devoted to the glory of His name. They look- 
ed on civil government as a Divine ordinance, clothed 
with a majesty descended from above, not derived 
from beneath, and not as a mere earthly contrivance 
for the collection of revenue and the maintenance of 
an efficient police. In fleeing from the oppressions, 
and striving to be freed from the abuses, of the Old 
World, they did not cast away the great truth which 
has been the shaping law of Christendom — Christ's do- 
main — that the anointed Son of God, from whose birth 
all Christian nations measure time, is the true centre 
of the State as of the Church, who should be recognized 



36 EULOGY. 

in every civil and ecclesiastical institution, and to whom 
every office-bearer owes allegiance. The magistracy 
had, in their view, a jus divinum, being the ministers 
of God, entrusted with the sword of justice by His au- 
thority, and responsible for the wielding of it in ac- 
cordance with His righteous will. Said John Robin- 
son, in his farewell letter to the little company of pil- 
grims in the May-flower — lambs of his own flock, who 
were leaving him for the wilderness — " Lastly, where- 
as you are to become a body politic, using among 
yourselves civil government, and are not furnished 
with any persons of special eminency above the rest, 
to be by you chosen into office of government, let your 
wisdom and godliness appear not only in choosing such 
persons as do entirely love and will diligently promote 
the common good, but also in yielding unto them all 
due honour and obedience in their lawful administra- 
tions, not beholding in them the ordinances of their per- 
sons, but God's ordinance for your good ; nor be like the 
foolish multitude, who do more honour the gay coat 
than either the virtuous mind of the man or glorious 
ordinance of the Lord. But you know better things, 
and that the image of the Lord's power and authority, 
which the magistrate beareth, is honourable, in how 
mean persons soever." 

The compact drawn up by the Pilgrims before they 
left the ship, began, " In the name of God, Amen," and 
proceeded to declare that, having undertaken " to plant 
a colony for the glory of God and the advancement of 
the Christian faith, they did solemnly, in His presence, 
covenant and combine," &:c. 

Nor was it otherwise in Connecticut. The original 
Constitution, drawn up January 14th, 1639, at Hart- 
ford, states in the Preamble the duty of establishing 



EULOGY. 37 

" an orderly and decent government according to 
God," and that it was framed " to maintain and pre- 
serve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord 
Jesus ;" nor were the fundamental articles of the colony 
of New Haven, which were adopted June 14th of the 
same year, less explicit in the recognition of the Christ- 
ian faith. Connecticut from the beginning, in both col- 
onies,* was a Christian commonwealth, sealed and de- 
fended with the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost. The State, as God's ordinance 
for civil rule, did not stand aloof from the Church, His 
ordinance for teaching and worship. The one acted 
as the representative of Christ the King ; the other, as 
the representative of Christ the Prophet and the Priest. 
The State sought to guide itself by the light of God's re- 
vealed will, and acknowledged, in all reverence of spir- 
it. His holy and overmastering providence ; and hence, 
remembering that "the priest's lips should keep knowl- 
edge, and that they should seek the law at his mouth," 
it looked to the Church to be instructed in the great 
principles on which government must be administered, 
and sought the blessing, and deprecated the anger of 
the Lord, in days of fasting and prayer. It was on this 
ground that a sermon was preached at the opening of 
every session of the Legislature, that the rulers might 
be reminded of their obligations to God, and of their 
dependence on Him for wisdom in counsel and rule, 
and not because the clergy might lawfully interfere in 
any of the details of the civil administration. The 
Church was recognized by the State, and formally es- 
tablished and sustained as the teacher of the people. 

* Connecticut and New Haven were distinct colonies until 1665, 
when, happily for both, they were united under the name of Connec- 
ticut. 



38 



EULOGY. 



That our fathers mistook sometimes in the applica- 
tion of these principles, through ignorance of the prop- 
er boundaries of these two great institutions ; that they 
were somewhat intolerant, and gave to their polity an 
austere and Jewish character, from want of insight into 
the true freedom of Christianity, and the purely spirit- 
ual character of all ecclesiastical ordinances, were er- 
rors affecting the beauty and comfort of the super- 
structure, but not impairing the solidity of the founda- 
tion.* And I dare affirm that, in spite of all the faults 
into which they fell, the true glory of our common- 
wealth may be traced to its Christian standing. It 
was this that gave sacredness and dignity to the mag- 
istracy, upholding it in honour in the hearts of the peo- 
ple, and securing it from those mutations which are so 
injurious to the steady and healthful growth of any 
country. It was such principles that made Theophi- 
lus Eaton to be the admiration of all spectators, for 
" the discretion, the gravity, the equity with which he 
managed all public affairs ;" and that elevated him to 
the chief magistracy of the colony of New Haven, by 
the free suffrages of her citizens, for twenty successive 
years. It was the reverent recognition of God in civil 
and domestic, as well as ecclesiastical institutions, that 
secured such subordination in the family and the state, 
and made the whole atmosphere of society so pure and 

* Throughout all Christendom, since the conversion of Constantine, 
the Church and the State have encroached each on the other's prov- 
ince. The one has usurped the functions of earthly rule ; the other 
those of spiritual ministry. It is hard to say which has been the great- 
er loser ; for, if the pope has freed himself from that civil subjection 
under which he ought to have remained, the king, in many lands — at 
times, in every land — has inti-uded himself into the work of the priest, 
and dared to dictate, both in doctrine and worship. Of the three altern- 
atives, movement in harmony, mutual interference, and entire divorce, 
Christendom is now choosing the last and worst. 



EULOGY. 39 

healthful. There were evils enough — strifes and dis- 
sensions numberless ; but, withal, there was a tough- 
ness of moral life, an unbending integrity, and a high 
resolve, which carried the state safely through all its 
perils.* Those were not faultless times, but they were 
times of faith ; God's government was an awful re- 
ality by which men sought to shape their earthly life, 
every region of which (though with many spots of 
partial obscuration) was illumined by the light that 
shineth from above. Give me the stern and ragged 
cliffs, in the clefts of which many a stately tree is 
nourished, and out of which many a flower of sweetest 
fragrancy doth spring ; and keep to yourselves, ye 
despisers of our Past, the yielding, treacherous quick- 

* I can not resist the temptation of giving one or two extracts from 
John Winthrop, the first governor of that name of Massachusetts, to 
show how unHke the hberty for which our father's contended is to the 
liberalism of the present day. " The questions that have troubled the 
countiy have been about the authority of the magistracy and the liberty 
of the people. It is you who have called us to this office ; but, being 
thus called, we have our authority from God; it is the ordinance of 
God, and it hath the image of God stamped upon it; and the contempt 
of it has been vindicated by God with terrible examples of his ven- 
geance." 

" Nor would I have you to mistake in the point of your own liberty. 
There is a liberty of corrupt nature, which is affected both by men and 
beasts, to do what they list ; and this liberty is inconsistent with author- 
ity, impatient of all restraint ; by this hberty sumus omnes deteriores ; 
'tis the grand enemy of truth and peace, and all the ordinances of God 
are bent against it. But there is a civil, a moral, a federal liberty, 
which is the proper end and object of authority ; it is a Hberty for that 
only which is just and good; for this liberty you are to stand with the 
hazard of your very lives ; and whatsoever crosses it is not authority, 
but a distemper thereof. This liberty is maintained in a way of subjec- 
tion to authority ; and the authority set over you wiU, in all administra- 
tions for your good, be quietly submitted unto by such as have a dispo- 
sition to shake off the yoke and lose their true liberty, by their mur- 
muring at the honour and power of authority." 



40 EULOGY. 

sands in which nothing can take root. Austere prin- 
ciples are better than none. 

In the great revolution which immediately followed 
the retirement of Governor Smith, and of which his re- 
jection was the first wave, Connecticut abdicated her 
Christian standing. The ancient spirit which had 
shaped her institutions, and linked her, in her corporate 
capacity, to the throne of the Almighty for almost two 
hundred years, was then expelled ; and the State ceas- 
ed, henceforward, to wield power as a religious trust. 
New and alien principles obtained the ascendency, and 
the divine life, imbreathed into the Commonwealth by 
its godly founders, was no longer the controlling law. 
The multiplication of Christian sects undoubtedly ren- 
dered a strict adherence to the original constitution 
both unwise and impossible, but could not justify such 
a total departure from the old foundations. Schisms 
in the Church can never necessitate the apostacy of the 
State. If the truth and institutions of God exist in 
fragments, they should be honoured as fragments, and 
not cast aside as rubbish. But the few remaining 
usages of a religious character yet retained by our gov- 
ernment, are felt to be incongruous with the spirit of 
the age, are barely tolerated as lifeless forms, and will 
soon be swept away. 

It was the honour of Governor Smith to close wor- 
thily the long line of chief magistrates in whom the 
principles of the former era were represented, and to 
shed around the last days of the old Commonwealth, 
the lustre it had in the times of Haynes, and Winthrop, 
and Saltonstall. His state papers breathe the spirit of 
religious reverence and faith ; he speaks in them as a 
Christian ruler, the head and organ of a Christian peo- 
ple, unfolding the dealings of Almighty God, and sum- 



EULOGY. 41 

moning them to acts of lowly worship at his feet.* 
With his administration the Golden Age of Connecticut 
came to an end.j- 

From his retirement in 1817 to his death, a period of 
almost thirty years, he lived upon his estate in his na- 
tive town, wholly withdrawn from all participation in 
political affairs, and devoted to the studies and employ- 
ments befitting a scholar, a gentleman, and a Christian. 
He acted in the spirit of the words of the Roman poet, 

Militavi non sine gloria ; 

Nunc arma defunctumque bello 

Barbiton hie paries habebit ; 

for, having served his country in so many and so im- 
portant trusts, he henceforward kept himself sternly 
aloof from the strifes (he had never been concerned 
with the plottings) of politics, impelled by that instinct- 
ive delicacy that ever shrank from a stain as from a 
wound. J In no part of his life did his character man- 
ifest itself in lovelier forms. He was not soured by de- 

* See Appendix F. 

t I need hardly say that the above has no application to individual 
chief magistrates, of whom we have since had those that would have 
adorned any period in our history, but to the great principles on which 
the government is administered. The whole question is viewed from 
a Christian stand-point; and the unanimous judgment of Christendom, 
until within the last fifty years or so, is boldly reaffirmed. The relig- 
ious and ecclesiastical bearings of the revolution refeiTed to above 
were these. For a considerable time after the first settlement of the 
state, it was homogeneous in its faith, and all the people contributed^ ac- 
cording to law, to the support of the Congi-egational churches. After- 
ward, when dissenters had become numerous, they were released from 
aU liability to support the established ecclesiastical communities, on 
condition that they contributed to their own. All were required to sus- 
tain Christian worship in some form. But under the new Constitution 
there is no such obligation ; and the state, as such, has nothing to do 
with the Church, which it once piously sought to nourish and defend. 
The change is unsound in principle, and has been mischievous in its 
fi-uits. ^ X Burke, 



42 E U L O G Y. 

feat ; for he had never sought office, nor valued it for 
its own sake ; and he gladly w^ithdrew from public 
cares, to partake, without interruption, of household 
joys, which no man appreciated more highly. He 
thre'w a charm around the fireside, as great as he im- 
parted to the chair of state. There was a tenderness 
as well as strength in his domestic affections, a mild 
dignity and winning gentleness in his manners, which, 
penetrated and purified by the spirit of Christian love, 
made the atmosphere of his household to be such as is 
breathed in heaven. The elevation of his character 
never sank in the privacy of social life ; it was as 
marked there as when he pronounced judgment from 
the bench, or ruled majestically the stormy debate. 
And yet there was no repulsive stateliness or weari- 
some formality about him ; all was like the grace of 
childhood, instinctive and unconscious, the spontaneous 
manifestation of a pure and noble spirit.* 

I know nothing more beautiful than this last period 
of his life. His intellectual vivacity was undiminished 
by his withdrawal from the excitement of the political 
arena; and he devoted himself to the management of 
his farm, to an extensive correspondence, to literary 
and theological studies, and to such public duties as, 
from time to time, were devolved upon him, with as 

* He was very fond of children, and had great power of attracting 
and interesting them. He seldom passed them in the street without a 
kind word. 

I may also add, in this connection, that as nothing could surpass his 
devotedness as a husband, so towards all women he showed a kniglit- 
like delicacy and respectfulness, reminding one of a remark of Nelson 
Coleridge about his uncle : " I never was in company with him in my 
life when the entry of a woman, it mattered not who, did not provoke 
a dim gush of emotion, which passed like an infant's breath over the 
miri'orof his intellect." 



EULOGY. 43 

much vigour as he had ever showed at the bar or in 
the Senate-house. Rising with the early dawn, he gave 
a portion of the morning hours of summer to labouring 
in his garden, in the cultivation of which he took great 
delight ; and the remainder of the day was devoted to 
his books and pen, and to the society of his family and 
friends. Measured by the standard of his time, he was 
a good classical scholar ; and within a year or two of 
his death, when arrived at fourscore, he read the Tus- 
culan Questions with unabated interest.* I see him, in 
that ripe old age, which the hand of Time had lightly 
touched, with his elastic step, his upright form, his man- 
ly and beaming countenance ; I hear the words of warm 
and courteous welcomef with which he received all 

* " You must pardon these classical infusions," wrote to him a Con- 
gressional friend, himself a finished scholar, " which I love to indulge 
when in intercourse with those who relish such flavour. And I re- 
member a chairman of the Committee of Claims whose delight it was 
to associate with the high spirits of antiquity, notwithstanding fate had 
condemned him, in his political career, at times, to consort with the 
lowest of the moderns." 

t The following beautiful illustration of his courteous reception and 
treatment of his guests is from a letter addressed to him by a distin- 
guished literary gentleman : 

" I never shall forget my visit to your hospitable mansion. I have 
one association about it that has ever been present to my mind. Will 
you forgive me if I record it here ? It taught me a lesson that has been 
of service to me always. You may remember, I was quite a boy then. 
I was very poor, but very proud. I knew nothing of the world, and 
had never seen a governor in the whole course of my life. When I 
dehvered you my letter of introduction, I trembled from head to foot, 
although you did not perceive it. You read it in the gravel-walk, in 
the shade of a fine tree, just by the wicket-gate. I watched your fea- 
tures as you folded up the note, and forgot my uneasiness when you 
took me by the arm and introduced me to your family. I slept that 
night well, and was awakened by the birds at early dawn. Sleep and 
the perfume of the flowers which stole in at my window had complete- 
ly refreshed me. I felt lilce one who rests his foot upon the air, and 
longs for wings to momit to paradise. I had literally a light heart and 



44 EULOGY. 

that entered his hospitable mansion, and the rich and 
various discourse with which he charmed them, as the 
conversation ran through the wide fields of history, 
philology, politics, and Christian doctrine; and admire 
that he should have carried into the evening of life, not 
only the fruits of large experience, but so much of the 
freshness and sparkle of the dew of youth. He wrote 
many fugitive essays in his later years on matters of 
passing interest — chiefly such as were connected with 
language and theology — all marked by discrimination 
and acuteness, and a pure and flowing style. He was 
a great lover of undefiled English, and a master of it 
too ; few could use it in conversation or in writing 
with more precision and elegance. His letters were 
remarkable for their appropriateness — sprightly, ten- 
der, serious, as the occasion prompted. 

Much of his time, after his retirement from public 
life, was given to religious studies, and especially to 
the Holy Scriptures. From his earliest childhood, his 
principles had been sound and his life unblemished ; 
but it was during his Congressional career that he be- 

a light bundle ; for I had brought with me but the apology of a ward- 
robe, and I was wondering how I should make my toilet, when a knock 
at the door called my attention another way. ' Come in,' said I. The 
door did not open. I went to it, astonished that any one should be 
* stirring with the lark.' I opened it, and there stood Governor Smith, 
with my boots hanging to one of his little fingers, a napkin thrown over 
his arm, and shaving utensils in the palm of his hand. I wish you 
could see that noble-hearted gentleman now as I saw him then, with his 
affable smile, his cheerful' good-morning,' and the true spirit of hospitality 
sparkling in his eyes and irradiating his whole countenance; you would 
not think me extravagant if I recommended him as a study for an artist. 
I shall not attempt to describe my astonishment, nor the impression you 
made upon my unfettered and inexperienced mind ; but allow me to 
say, you taught me a lesson of humility I have not forgotten, and never 
can forget. I thanked you for it then, and though a lifetime has since 
been numbered with the past, I thank you for it now." 



EULOGY. 45 

came a communicant in the church under his father's 
care, and ever afterwards he led the life of an humble- 
minded Christian. His religion was manly, earnest, 
and sincere, without cant or ostentation — not a gar- 
ment, but a life. He was a Christian, not by intellect- 
ual conviction alone, but in the inmost affections of 
his soul, by the surrender of his whole being to God in 
Christ. But he was also an intelligent believer, hold- 
ing with clear insight, as well as tenacious faith, the 
orthodox doctrines of the Church, the common herit- 
age of Christendom, the creed of his fathers, and de- 
fending them with great earnestness and ability. He 
was a man of a very reverent spirit towards all the or- 
dinances of the Christian Church ; constant in his at- 
tendance upon its public services, even when deafness 
debarred him from most of their benefits ; and holding 
its ministry in honour, as seeing their Master in them. 
His veneration for the Scriptures, and the diligence 
with which he studied them, were remarkable, and 
that the more as age drew on, and he approached to 
his final rest. Then the Word of God grew more and 
more dear ; he feasted on it as the Bread of Life ; he 
drank of its springs, and plumed there his soul for her 
eternal flight. 

The connection of Governor Smith with the great 
moral and religious enterprises of the age, was an im- 
portant feature of his later life. He rejoiced when the 
Church, startled out of the sleep of the last century by 
the shock that engulfed the monarchy of France, be- 
gan to grope her way in the morning twilight, and 
with weak faith and dim vision to gird herself for her 
work, as the light of the world, and the pillar and 
ground of the truth. The circulation of the Holy 
Scriptures was a work which he deeply loved, be- 



46 EULOGY. 

cause of his reverence for them as the infalUble and 
perfect revelation of God's counsels and w^ill, and of 
his own experience of their powder to guide, and com- 
fort, and bless ; nor was he less interested in that still 
more appropriate labour of the Church, in carrying the 
Gospel throughout the earth, and, by the mouths of liv- 
ing men, fulfilling her office as the teacher of the world. 
He was the first president of the Connecticut Bible So- 
ciety, which preceded by several years the national 
institution. In 1826, he was chosen president of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
sions, and in 1831, president of the American Bible So- 
ciety,* thus receiving the highest marks of confidence 
and esteem which the Christian public could bestow 
upon him. The former he resigned in 1841, on ac- 
count of the increasing infirmities of age, especially of 
deafness, which disqualified him for presiding over de- 
liberative bodies ; but the latter, requiring less onerous 
duties, he retained till his death.f 

It was a noble spectacle to see the retired statesman 
consecrating his old age to such a work. Standing 
wholly apart from political contests, though full of filial 
anxiety for his country, he gave to the Church of God 
the first place in his affections and labours. Nor was 
it only in enterprises the magnitude of which might 
seem to give them an outward magnificence, that he 
felt an interest; he was equally ready for those hum- 
ble works of which the world takes little notice. His 
wisdom and gentleness made him much sought for in 
healing the wounds of distracted churches, and never 
was he more thankful than when he saw a blessing on 

* See Appendix G. 

] He was also the fii-st presltleat of the Litchfield County Temper- 
ance Society. See Appendix H. 



EULOGY. 47 

those labours of love. Verily, his sowing was in faith, 
and his reaping shall be life. 

Besides the political and religious honours already- 
mentioned, he received several of a literary kind. In 
1814, the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on 
him by his Alma Mater. In 1813, he was elected a 
member of the Historical Society of Massachusetts ; 
and in 1836, a member of the Royal Society of North- 
ern Antiquaries in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was 
also elected an honorary member of the Historical So- 
ciety of Connecticut, into the aims and objects of which 
he entered warmly, and gave it his cordial support. 

But the portraiture of Governor Smith's character 
will be incomplete, without giving greater prominence 
to the element of the Christian gentleman. He was an 
eminent ornament of a class of which very few sur- 
vive, commonly spoken of as gentlemen of the old 
school. This is commonly understood to designate a 
lofty tone of manners which belonged to a state of so- 
ciety now gone by, and the loss of which is as little to 
be regretted as the obsolete fashions of our grandsires' 
coats. The free-and-easy spirit of our age rejoices in 
its deliverance from the uncomfortable restraints of 
those punctilious times, and ridicules the antique forms 
of social and public life. But manners are shaped by 
principles. They are the expression of the sentiments, 
of the moral and spiritual character of men ; and when 
these are debased, they will stamp their meanness on 
the manners also. Outward coarseness and vulgarity 
are a fruit and an index of moral debasement ; and the 
stately and beautiful forms of life are the fit embodi- 
ment of high and honourable feelings, though they may 
be the decorated sepulchre which hides the corruption 
of death. 



48 EULOGY. 

The loftier manners of past ages grew out of their 
loftier principles. The Hfe of man was felt to be en- 
compassed by a heavenly Presence and illumined by a 
heavenly Light. Society was a Divine structure, and 
office-bearers therein were the representatives and 
ministers of God. Hence a reverential spirit, and its 
outward expression, a respectful manner, grew out of 
the faith of men in the Invisible as symbolized in the 
visible, in the Eternal as symbolized in the temporal. 
In the father they saw set forth the everlasting father- 
hood of God ; in the ruler, the majesty of the great 
King. Admiration of the person was a distinct thing 
altogether from reverence for the office-bearer ; the in- 
dividual properties of the stone were not confounded 
with the powers given it by its place in the arch. 

The effect on the manners of society, of thus recog- 
nizing God in men — His ordinances^ was strong and 
wholesome. Power was a sacred trust to be account- 
ed for to Him for whom it was held ; and this, while 
it gave elevation to the character and loftiness to the 
aims, laid strong bonds upon pride, and tempered au- 
thority with gentleness and mercy. And so, on the 
other hand, submission and reverence were dignified, 
because they were rendered to God — to God repre- 
sented in man — for there is nothing slavish in honour- 
ing Him. There is a profound truth hid under Burke's 
paradox, where he speaks of the " proud submission 
and dignified obedience" of the days of chivalry. No 
other principle can take from authority its arrogance, 
and free respectfulness from servility. The increas- 
ing debasement of our manners springs from the decay 
of reverence, and this, again, from losing sight of the 
Divine element in the structure of society, and degrad- 
ing it into a mere earthly mechanism. No man can 



EULOGY. 49 

revere his own workmanship ; and it should excite no 
surprise that " the child behaves himself proudly against 
the ancient, and the base against the honourable," 
since the magistracy are no longer regarded as the 
ministers of Jehovah, but as the delegates and tools of 
the populace. No wonder that through all the spheres 
of life this change should be seen ; that all intercourse 
should contract defilement ; that the ancient majesty 
should be disappearing from the bench and from the 
chair of state ; for link after link is severing of that ce- 
lestial chain which once encompassed the earth, and 
lifted it within the outskirts of the glory of the Eternal 
Throne. 

The manners of Governor Smith were formed under 
the control of other principles, and in another atmos- 
phere. He was trained from childhood to revere and 
to obey ; life, in the foripis in which it was developed 
around him, was full of sacredness, and thus the ground- 
work was laid of that gentlemanly character, that union 
of courtesy and suavity with a princely bearing, for 
which he was so eminently distinguished. None who 
ever enjoyed the privilege of his acquaintance, can for- 
get the charm of his deportment, the self-possession 
and dignity which the presence of a monarch could 
not have shaken, joined to a kindness and affability 
that put the humblest at his ease. 

Nor must I omit to speak of his position in society after 
his retirement from office, which was a realizing of the 
ideal of a country gentleman, and an illustration of the 
strong and healthful influence which rank and wealth, 
and the accomplishments of learning and manners, join- 
ed to ancestral ties, may exert upon a people. Elevated 
above all around him by the official honours he had so 
nobly worn ; possessed of an ample estate, which en- 

C 



60 EULOGY. 

abled him to live in the style of dignified simplicity 
suited to his station, and which was the fit decoration 
and instrument of his majestic character ; and standing 
among his townsmen, not as a novus homo, but as the 
scion of an honoured stock that, for more than half a 
century, had struck its roots deep in their soil, and thus 
invested with strong hereditary claims upon their af- 
fections, he entered on the last great period of his life 
one of the at dpioroif a recognized guide and leader of 
men.* And seldom are such gifts and instruments of 
usefulness turned to nobler account. He was a fount- 
ain of purifying and ennobling influences. All loved 
and revered him ; and well is it for men when they 
can find worthy objects to love and revere. Vice stood 
abashed and insolence rebuked in his presence ; the 
tone of manners and of morals was elevated by his ex- 
ample; and his generous and public-spirited disposition 
made him prominent in every useful and merciful work. 
He might almost appropriate the beautiful picture 
drawn by the Eastern patriarch of himself while "the 
Almighty was yet with him." " When I went out to 
the gate through the city, when I prepared my rest in 
the street ; the young men saw me, and hid them- 
selves ; and the aged rose and stood up. When the 
ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye 
saw me, it gave witness to me. Because I delivered 
the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had 

* His dwelling had a nobility about it in harmony with the man. 
Its position was one of almost unequalled beauty, near the western 
base of that range of hills which separates much of the rugged county 
of Litchfield from the gentle slopes of Dutchess, and o%'erlooking a 
landscape of considerable extent and great rural loveliness. And then 
the old stone mansion itself, with its spacious and lofty piazza, its bat- 
tlemeated roof, its regal look — it was a fit abode for one 
" Wljosc soul was like a star, and dwelt apart." 



EULOGY. 51 

none to help him. I put on righteousness, and it clothed 
me ; my judgment was as a robe and a diadem." 

In this, also, he was one of the last survivors of a 
once numerous class. The time has been when almost 
every village had its optimates, its guiding lights and 
centres of influence, men whose descent from ancient 
and venerated families gave them a hold upon the 
hearts of their townsmen, and in whom education and 
wealth were felt to furnish additional claims to official 
and social eminence. Then honours were heaped 
upon the worthy in long succession, who became there- 
by perennial fountains of blessing : the spirit of envy 
and the principle of rotation had not yet converted so- 
ciety into a sand waste. But all is changed now, or 
changing ; social distinctions can be no longer tolera- 
ted ; the staff of the tyrannic populace strikes at the 
tallest flowers, and it is becoming as impossible to 
maintain a position amid the heaving mass, as out of 
the waves of the ocean to build an enduring arch. 
How refreshing to look back upon the better time, 
when guidance was welcomed as a blessing, and the 
gifts of God were not systematically perverted into in- 
struments of detraction ! No diffusion of knowledge, 
no systems of benevolent working, can ever supply to 
New England the loss of that class of which Governor 
Smith was an eminent representative, the npea6vTepot 
of society. 

But I must come now to the closing scenes of his 
life. His last appearance in public was in this city, at 
the last Commencement.* Yielding to the entreaties of 
his friends against his own convictions, he consented to 
preside at the meeting of the Alumni. f The journey 
in the heat of summer, across the rough and rain- 

* August, 1845. t See Appendix I. 



52 EULOGY. 

washed hills of his native country, was too much for 
his advanced years ; a night's severe illness followed ; 
and when the morning came, he was too enfeebled for 
the task he had undertaken. But he had never known 
the pain of giving disappointment, and rallying his 
strength, he passed with slow and trembling steps up 
the lofty hall ; but how were we shocked at the death- 
like paleness of his countenance, so unlike its wonted 
freshness ! Twice, in that stifling atmosphere, he faint- 
ed ; but even then we saw how painful it was for his 
energetic will to relinquish its purpose. Never before 
had he assumed a labour that crushed him. From that 
illness he never fully recovered ; and after a few weeks 
of extreme bodily suffering, under which he manifest- 
ed great patience and faith, on the 7th of December 
the spirit of John Cotton Smith departed to its rest.* 

That was the quenching of a great light. A Man 
was taken from us— a man for whom all may mourn, 
for the beauty and the majesty of manhood shone forth 
in him. Noble aims, an unspotted life, a tender con- 
science, the simplicity and gentleness of childhood unit- 
ed with manly vigour— all were his. He was one 

" Who, if he rise to station of command, 
Rises by open means, and there will stand 
On honourable terms,t or else retire, 

And in hi mself possess his own desire ; 

* His firainess of purpose and systematic habits were retained to the 
last. He was discovered at the usual hour upon his knees at his pri- 
vate devotions, when unable to hold intelligent intercourse with his 
family. He insisted on sha%niig himself, as he had been accustomed to 
do, but two or three days before his death, although his aberration of 
mind awakened the fears of his friends. His journey seemed to have 
made a deep impression on him, or, perhaps, old scenes were floating 
through his mind ; for to his son, who asked him if he knew him, he re- 
plied,''with his wonted emphasis, " Sir, we are in New Haven, and you 
are David Daggett !" 

t His character in this respect was so well known, that when his 



EULOGY. 53 

Who comprehends his trust, and to the same 

Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim ; 

And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait 

For wealth, or honours, or for worldly state ; 

Whom they must follow ; on whose head must fall 

Like showers of manna, if they come at all : 

Whose powers shed round him in the common stiife, 

Or mild concerns of ordinary life, 

A constant influence, a pecuhar grace ; 

But who, if he be called upon to face 

Some awful moment, to which Heaven has joined. 

Great issues, good or bad, for human kind, 

Is happy as a lover, and attired 

With sudden brightness, like a man inspired ; 

And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law 

In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw : 

Or if an unexpected call succeed. 

Come when it will, is equal to the need. 

He who, though thus endued as with a sense 

And faculty for storm and turbulence, 

Is yet a soul whose master-bias leans 

To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes."* 

Such is a brief and imperfect sketch of one of the 
noblest sons of Connecticut. And it is with fiUal joy 
and pride that we claim him for our own. There were 
no foreign elements in his character. Connecticut was 
the mother that bore and nurtured him. Descended 
from the first minister of the first settlement in the col- 
ony, born within her border, educated at her college, 
a lawyer at her bar, her representative in Congress, a 
judge upon her bench, the occupant of her chair of 
state, and giving to her the mild lustre of his declining 
years, he was emphatically her child and her ornament. 
And he was a true representative of his ancient moth- 
er, adhering, with a fidelity surpassed by none, to the 

name was once mentioned in a political circle with reference to the of- 
fice of presidential elector, the reply was, " He will never do ; we want 
a man of an easier conscience." 
* Wordsworth's Happy Warrior. 



'64 E U L O G Y. 

principles of the olden time, in government and in re- 
ligion. All that he was — the incorruptible statesman, 
the pure-minded patriot, the gentleman of lofty bear- 
ing, and the Christian of enlightened zeal — was the 
fruit, under God, of the nurture he received at her bo- 
som. His faith was the faith of Hooker and Haynes, 
of Eaton and Davenport ; the faith which his vener- 
able Alma Mater was established to defend, and to 
which the Legislature once solemnly set its seal. He 
belonged to the Connecticut of history, to the old Com- 
monwealth which has gone by, and will return no more. 
Be her faults and shortcomings what they may, she has 
borne noble sons ; and may my tongue cleave to the 
roof of my mouth if, in looking forward to a more glo- 
rious Future, I fail to do them honour. The rugged 
Puritan stock has had life within it to bring forth many 
a bright, consummate flower ; and when we look upon 
the precious clusters that have adorned the Vine trans- 
planted into the wilderness, which bears as its pious 
motto, Qui transtulit, sustinety Hope longs to add, Et 
semper snstinehit. 



LETTERS, 



LETTERS. 



No. 1. 
TO PRESIDENT DWIGHT. 

Sharon, Nov., 1796. 

Accompanying this is a tooth of unusual size and 
appearance, which has been lately discovered in this 
place, and which I take the liberty of submitting to 
your examination. It was found by a farmer in my 
neighbourhood, two and a half feet below the surface 
of the earth, in a marsh where he was digging for 
manure. 

The upper or grinding surface retains the appear- 
ance it wore when first dug up ; but the opposite side 
has greatly changed on being exposed to the air. The 
roots or prongs were six in number, more than three 
inches long, and, as the extremities were very blunt, it 
is probable an inch or two more must have been wasted 
or broken off from their original length. The weight 
of the tooth when first discovered, after being well 
dried, was three pounds and twelve ounces ; its pres- 
ent weight is two pounds and nine ounces ; the dif- 
ference must be- charged to the loss of its roots, which 
are now entirely mouldered away. I have directed 
further search to be made for the corresponding bones ; 
but, from the great decay attending this, I entertain lit- 
tle hope that any other, if deposited near the same 
place, can have been preserved. Were I to conject- 
ure, I should say this was the front grinder of the 
right under jaw, but of what animal my limited knowl- 

C2 



58 LETTERS. 

edge of zoography does not permit me to form any 
satisfactory opinion. 

You, sir, may perhaps at once recognize it as the 
tooth or other bone of some well-known animal ; and 
if not, it will not be difficult to ascribe it to the mam- 
moth^ that incognitv.m which has so much occupied the 
thoughts of the naturalist, and which has given birth 
to so many fanciful theories. Should it be thought to 
furnish additional proof that such an animal has ex- 
isted, the little trouble I have taken will be richly com- 
pensated ; and if you should consider it entitled to a 
place in the museum, I shall be gratified in making 
this addition to the collection. 



No. 2. 
FROM DR. HOLMES. 

Cambridge, Nov. 26, 1800. 

I suspend the composition of my thanksgiving ser- 
mon, designed for to-morrow, to give my valued friend 
this little testimonial of remembrance and affection. 
Since I wrote you last, I have seen the melancholy ac- 
count of the death of your excellent mother. Excel- 
lent, indeed, must she have been in disposition, princi- 
ples, and life, to have acquired the character ascribed 
to her since her decease. With you, my dear friend, 
and with your afflicted father, and the family, I ten- 
derly sympathize in this very sorrowful bereavement. 
The sympathy which my love to you would naturally 
have excited is heightened by my own deep experi- 
ence in the school of affliction. I once had a father, 
discreet, affectionate, faithful. I once had a companion 
of my bosom, tender, amiable, excellent. That parent 
was lost to me in early life ; and my beloved Maria 



LETTERS. 59 

is no more ! Let our losses and sorrows, my much- 
loved friend, teach us to make a proper estimate of 
human life, and point our thoughts, affections, and pur- 
suits to that world where the ties of friendship and 
affection shall remain indissoluble, and our bliss shall 
be uninterrupted and eternal. The removal of the ex- 
cellent of the earth ought, surely, to excite in our bo- 
soms the sublime desire, the sacred emulation, to be- 
come reunited to them, and to enjoy their society and 
their love, among the spirits of the just made perfect. 



No. 3. 

TO JUDGE DAGGETT. 

Washington, 6th January, 1802. 

Your highly-esteemed favor of the 23d ult. broke a 
silence which really began to alarm me. Although you 
have no right to expect letters from me this winter, 
yet my claim to letters from you is not to be disputed 
— and of claims you must allow me, by this time, to be 
a pretty competent judge. 

I shall say nothing to you of politics, because, really, 
it is a theme of too much scandal, and because you 
know at New Haven as precisely what is done here 
as we do. At least, the chief consul can tell you, and 
probably does, what is agreed to be done, and this you 
know, in equittj and good conscience, is done already. 

Last Friday, being New Year's day, the president 
held a formal levee, all his republican tendencies not- 
withstanding. On this occasion we were really le- 
vant, and not couchant, in his presence as heretofore. 
We had cake, and wine, and punch. And lo ! the 
mammoth cheese was also presented by old Leland, 
the Baptist minister, in whose parish the aforesaid 



60 LETTERS. 

cheese was collected and jumbled together. The pa- 
rade was ludicrous enough, but what is there apper- 
taining to the left-legged ruler of this ill-fated country 
that is not ludicrous ? 

*' Sed paulo majora canamus." In the afternoon of 
the same day, in company with several members of 
Congress, I went to Mount Vernon. We reached 
Alexandria the same evening and lodged there ; rose 
early the next morning, took carriages, and arrived at 
the mount to breakfast. It was as lovely a day as 
ever shone. O my friend, how can I describe to you 
my emotions at approaching the hallowed retreat ? 
how can I describe to you the retreat itself? My 
powers are unequal to the undertaking, nor shall I at- 
tempt it. Let me only say, I felt myself on enchanted 
ground ; that I felt all the ecstasy which the unrivalled 
beauty and grandeur of the scene could not fail to in- 
spire, joined to that deep melancholy which was irre- 
sistibly produced by the thought of its former illustri- 
ous and beloved inhabitant. Soon after we were in- 
troduced and had commenced conversation with the 
amiable and venerable widow, I stole out imperceptibly, 
and rambled through a winding gravel walk towards 
where I imagined must be the tomb of the hero. On 
the bank of the river, elevated about 200 feet above 
the surface of the water, beneath four spreading oaks, 
and surrounded by shrubbery, I found the family vault. 
It is covered with a mound of earth, out of which grow 
young cedars and the juniper. It faces the east. The 
vast Potomac rolls along in gloomy majesty, and every 
object around seems to infuse a kind of religious awe. 
I stood at the door of the tomb, which was locked, and 
indulged myself in a strain of reflections which you 
may possibly conceive, but which I can never express. 



LETTERS. 61 

I contrasted for a moment the man in the grave with the 
man now in power — the glory of our country once 
with its degradation now. I could not but consider 
the honor, the prosperity, the splendor of the Ameri- 
can nation as reposing themselves with the ashes of 
the hero whose arm had achieved them. Was it un- 
manly to weep ? I assure you the tears flowed apace. 
It would not do for me to tarry long ; I went back to 
the house, and very soon breakfast was announced. 
The good old lady did the honours of the table herself, 
although there were three of her granddaughters pres- 
ent, who in turn offered their service. "No," said 
she, "it will give me sensible pleasure." She knows 
well those of Congress who respect the memory of her 
husband, and she duly appreciates their motives in 
coming to her house. Her dress was deep mourning, 
and although she assumes a degree of cheerfulness and 
is quite sociable, yet it is manifest her heart is oppressed 
with unremitting sorrow. She said " she had lived 
too long ; that though she had reason to thank God for 
innumerable mercies, there was now nothing to attach 
her to the earth." The walls of the room where we 
breakfasted, as well as of several of the others, are 
hung with pictures of battles and sieges, and the por- 
traits of very many of those warriors and statesmen 
with whom he had been associated in his civil and mili- 
tary career. After breakfast, we went over different 
parts of the house ; through the garden, the green-house, 
the labyrinths, the serpentine walks — enjoyed the im- 
measurable prospect on every side, and, in short, gazed 
at all the wonders of that little else than terrestrial 
paradise. Having proceeded together to the tomb, 
and plucked each of us a sprig of evergreen from the 
consecrated mound, we returned to the house, sat an 



62 LETTERS. 

hour with Mrs. Washington in free and famihar con- 
versation, and then ordered up our carriages. We 
were pressed very strongly to stay to dinner, and until 
the next day ; but having determined to reach the Capi- 
tol that night, we bade the old lady adieu with aching 
hearts, reached Alexandria at three o'clock, dined, en- 
tered on board a packet-boat with a fine breeze, and 
arrived at our lodgings by dusk. Thus, my friend, I 
have given you a very imperfect sketch of one of the 
most interesting occurrences of my life. And how- 
ever it may present itself to your imagination, this 
pilgrimage to the tomb of Washington has made im- 
pressions upon my heart which will never be effaced. 

I wish to say many things to you relative to the sad 
aspect of our national affairs ; but prudential consid- 
erations restrain me. Through the alarming manage- 
ment of our post-offices, correspondence is now car- 
ried on by letters patent. No confidence can be placed 
in the mail. Deception, and distrust, and discord per- 
vade, indeed, every department ; and honesty, confi- 
dence, and truth, with her angel train of virtues, are 
retiring from the earth. 

The attack upon the judiciary is at length com- 
menced in both houses. The subject, in our House, is 
at present under the consideration of a select commit- 
tee. In the Senate, I understand the batteries are to 
be opened to-morrow. This day, in Senate, a reso- 
lution admitting stenographers within the area has 
passed. Duane is to take his stand there. S. H. 
Smith is already by the side of the speaker's chair. 
So that the people are to obtain information from their 
representatives through the most pure and correct 
channels imaginable. I now assure you that the judi- 
cial system will be abolished ! After which, do you 



LETTERS. 63 

believe the other branches of the government can be 
said to possess a legitimate existence ? Must not the 
Constitution be considered as buried in the ruins of the 
judiciary ? These are solemn questions. 



No. 4. 
FROM REV. DR. HOLMES. 

Cambridge, Oct. 18, 1804. 

An unusual pressure of business puts it out of my 
pov^^er to w^rite you a letter^ as I had intended, by Mr. 
Stedman. He sets out for Congress this morning, and 
I must content myself with a few lines, in token of re- 
membrance and affection. Your communication from 
the last Congress was early received, and it was not a 
little pleasing to me to be able to impart the doings to 
my literary friends here before they could be learned 
from another source. You will gratify and oblige me 
by any similar communication in future — the presi- 
dent's speeches, printed documents, (fee. — the more of 
your own, whether from the pen or the press, the bet- 
ter. You will not, I am sure, suspect me of adulation, 
when I tell you that every thing in which you are con- 
cerned is very interesting to me. When I am with 
Mr. Stedman, I have a thousand questions to ask about 
my old friend ; but, so far from worrying him, they are 
answered as kindly on his part as they ever are hon- 
ourably on yours. Go on, my beloved friend, to de- 
serve well of your country. 

For several years I have been reading American 
history, with a view of bringing its principal facts into 
chronological order, that I might see them in their co- 
herence. What I commenced for my personal conven- 
ience and improvement, I am at length concluding 



64 LETTERS. 

in a publication. The literary friends whom I have 
consulted approve the plan of the w^ork, and encour- 
age me to publish it. You will see the plan of it in 
the inclosed proposals, which I will thank you to place 
in a bookstore (if there is one) at Washington, and at 
the close of the session, if it have any names, return it 
to me. I intend also to inclose you a specimen of the 
work itself, if I can obtain [it] seasonably from the 
press this morning. 



No. 5. 
TROM DR. HOLMES. 

Cambridge, 30th April, 1805. 

I should reproach myself, my dear friend, for not 
making an earlier acknowledgment of your two very ac- 
ceptable and obliging letters of the 8th Nov. and 26th 
Dec, had not imperious causes occasioned the delay. 
For a considerable time after the receipt of i\\Q first, I 
was engaged in the Conquest of Mexico. I had sup- 
posed thai part of my work already done ; but, on re- 
view, it appeared to me expedient to extend it beyond 
the dry chronological form in which it stood, and to 
give it somewhat of an historical body. It hence be- 
came necessary to re-examine the original authors on 
that subject, and to compose anew every thing relat- 
ing to it. In this respect — I hope without the phrensy 
— I was obliged to copy after the Macedonian hero, 
of whom, you remember, the poet says, that 

" Thrice he fought his battles o'er, 
And thrice he slew the slain." 

When I had finished the Conquest, the uncertainty, 
whether a letter would find you at Washington — as 
you had informed me that you intended to leave Con- 



LETTERS. 65 

gress early in the session — induced me to a farther de- 
lay. I now write, in the hope that my letter will find 
you at the election at Hartford, with your face set to- 
wards Boston. The suggestion of a "long-proposed 
visit," though in its connection with " the next season" 
(now arrived) it is mentioned with the conditional term 
should, has excited in my mind strong expectation. 
Quod volumus — you know the rest. I have been 
so incessantly haunted (I hope the word has a good 
meaning) with the idea, since your last letter, that it 
has now become as much of a reality to me as though 
you had absolutely promised a visit. I never think of 
our election without thinking of you. This wizard 
spell will continue until the 29th of May ; and I wish 
nothing may dissolve it but your presence in propria 
persona. 

Your zealous attention to the subject of my pro- 
posed publication is a renewed proof of the sincerity 
and permanency of your friendship. Accept, my es- 
teemed friend, my best thanks for your care of my in- 
terest and reputation. Your approbation of the plan 
of my projected work encourages me to proceed with 
new resolution in executing it. The number of hon- 
ourable names on the list of subscribers at Washing- 
ton is flattering. Your name and influence procured 
their's. I cannot now want motives to endeavour to 
render the work acceptable and useful. 



No. 6. 
FROM DR. HOLMES. 

Cambridge, 31st Aug., 1811. 

It would indeed have been most grateful to me to 
meet you "on that memorable ground" sacred to litera- 



LETTERS. 



ture and friendship, there to renew mutual "assurances 
of unabated affection." Such, however, are my paro- 
chial and other duties, that I can seldom allow myself 
as much time abroad as the proposed interview would 
require. Something, I allow, is due, if not to ** being 
in general," as you remember some scholastic dispu- 
tants within college walls used to insist, yet to those 
individual beings with whom we were early associated, 
and from whose society and friendship we derived im- 
provement and delight. 

We owe something to our Alma Mater, something 
to our literary associates generally, something espe- 
cially to the select few with whom we walked to the 
temple of science, and to the house of God in com- 
pany. I need not say to my endeared friend how sens- 
ible I am to these obligations, and how potently the 
very thought of them attracts me to the spot, where 
with him the scenes of juvenile life might be reviewed, 
the events of later times recounted, the present allot- 
ments of Heaven to each described, and future pros- 
pects indulged. Of this " feast of reason and flow of 
soul" I do not despair, and shall assuredly seize the 
first favourable opportunity to attend it — without far- 
ther invitation. On " your Honour" I rely, and whether 
I shall have the honour to salute you under this title or 
not, I shall never doubt our mutual readiness to meet 
and embrace under the old and ever-during one of 
Friend. 

In your elevation to the second place of honour and 
trust in my native state I most sincerely rejoice, not 
merely because it is the promotion of one whose hap- 
piness and fame are always dear to me, but because I 
consider it as an evidence of the present wisdom, and 
a pledge of the future prosperity of a Republic, the 



LETTERS. 67 

purest and the happiest, probably, on the face of the 
earth. In this new and important station, my prayer 
for you is, that you may have the wisdom profitable to 
direct you ; that integrity and uprightness may pre- 
serve you ; that in you the citizens may behold a fair 
example of the able statesman, blended with the ex- 
emplary Christian ; and that your influence may be 
directed and blessed to the promotion of the best in- 
terests and happiness of men for both worlds. 

Your profession of that religion which furnishes the 
highest possible motives to fidelity, and your presi- 
dency in an association formed for the diffusion of the 
Divine Book which contains it, are presages of such a 
happy use of your influence, which I observe with no 
ordinary interest, and contemplate with no ordinary 
delight. 

But unless I dismiss a theme on which I love to 
dwell, I shall not answer your inquiries. " The awful 
declension from primitive Christianity" about which 
you inquire, is deeply to be deplored ; but we must 
" stand in our lot," and leave the care of the Church to 
its divine Founder, who will uphold it against all op- 
position, and amidst all declensions and apostasies. 
How far the adversaries of the doctrines of the Refor- 
mation are agreed among themselves " in the manner 
of denying the Lord who bought them," I cannot say. 
Some are much more open than others on this subject ; 
while, in general, there seems a wonderful agreement 
in disputing or denying all those great doctrines 
which, from the time of Martin Luther to this day, 
have been held in all the Reformed churches in Chris- 
tendom to be the truth as it is in Jesus. A religion 
under the flattering yet imposing name of rational, is 
substituted for the religion of the cross. Mysteries 



68 LETTERS. 

are exploded. Christianity, it is conceded, ought to be 
believed in general ; while, it would seem, nothing 
need be believed in particular. As a whole, it is wor- 
thy of all acceptation ; but the several parts which 
compose it may be rejected ad libitum. Religious 
opinions are indifferent ; and it is no matter what a 
man believes, provided he act right. Catholicism is 
the order of the day ; and so " fierce for moderation" 
are the Catholics, that the very charity contended for 
is forgotten in the zeal to promote it. It is a Catholi- 
cism which wants one mark of the "wisdom from 
above" (to say nothing of the " first pure"), that is, 
" without partiaHty ;" for while it tolerates w^ith the 
utmost benignity all the innovations of the Priestleian 
school, it brands with opprobrium the tenets of the 
Puritans. You will perceive, therefore, that a precept 
of " a prophet of their own" (for they quote pagan 
authorities with great respect) is not exactly regard- 
ed, though declared to have descended from Heaven. 
Vv(j)di GsavTov. 

But I cannot enlarge. There are, notwithstanding 
this defection, many advocates for primitive Christian- 
ity among ministers and people. Great is the truth, 
and, wherever " spoken against," it will prevail. 

The establishment at A., about which you inquire, 
was originally projected on the principles of the Old 
School, for the forming of a learned, orthodox, and 
pious ministry. Before the scheme was carried into 
effect, a similar estabUshment was projected by some 
disciples of the New H-p-k-n School. To prevent 
dissension or collision, an effort was made to unite 
these diverse purposes, and to concentrate the dona- 
tions for each in one establishment. The effort suc- 
ceeded ; but some compromises were necessary, and 



LETTERS. 69 

hence the mixed character of the institution. It is al- 
ready hberally endowed, and contains a large number 
of students ; and though I have always thought it in 
some respects liable to stricture, I can not but hope it 
will be essentially beneficial to the Church and to the 
country. 

I cannot answer your kind inquiries about myself, 
my family, flock, and literary researches, in your la- 
conic manner. Your two first items, "healthy and 
prosperous," may, through Divine favour, be strictly 
applied to me. The bilious habit which I brought 
from Georgia is eradicated, and I have regained a 
good degree both of the health and flesh which I had 
thought to be irrecoverably lost. My prosperity in 
my domestic, parochial, and literary connexions has 
been such as to call for my most devout acknowledg- 
ments to the Author of all good. 

As to my studies, they are considerably diversified. 
I love books as much as ever. To theology I have 
paid more exclusive attention since the completion of 
the Annals — which receive so indulgent a share of 
your approbation, a distinction which is not the least 
grateful part of the reward of that labour. 

I study the Hebrew and Oriental languages, read 
authors on Biblical criticism, historians, the ancient 
classics, essayists, periodical journals, reviews, and 
state papers. What an anticlimax ! But I mention 
every thing as it occurs. Yes, what a falling off is 
here ! I blush for my country and for our common- 
wealth, and more than ever delight in the thought that 

I was born in C 1. In much of my English 

readings, I have the pleasure and benefit of the pres- 
ence and remarks of the friend of my choice, espe- 
cially by the winter evening's fireside. But whither 



70 LETTERS. 

am I wandering ? Were you not a husband and a 
grandfather, as well as a friend, I should not thus dis- 
close the penetralia. 

As to the press, I do not now burden it, excepting 
occasionally with a sermon. Notwithstanding your in- 
dulgence, I fear others will say, " Sat prata biberunt." 



No. 7, 
TO JUDGE REEVE. 

Sharon, 23d March, 1812. 

The enclosed sheets would have been returned at 
an earlier day, if a safe opportunity had presented. 
They have afforded me much entertainment, particu- 
larly those which treat of the course of descent in 
Virginia. Some part of her system is of very ques- 
tionable policy, and altogether without precedent ; al- 
though, perhaps, the states in her immediate neigh- 
bourhood, with their accustomed servility, may have 
followed her example. I should not have disliked a 
little more animadversion from your pen upon the 
monstrous doctrine of admitting the issue of an illegal 
marriage to a participation of the inheritance ; believ- 
ing, as I do, that the provision resulted rather from in- 
difference, to say no more, with respect to such con- 
nections, than from sentiments of justice or humanity 
towards the unfortunate offspring. The stern rule of 
the common law is unquestionably the strongest, the 
most effectual preventive of the crime that human wis- 
dom can contrive. By relaxing it, you not only de- 
stroy the check — you furnish a lure. More may be 
said in favour of allowing the nullius jilius to succeed 
to the estate of his mother. Even here, perhaps, it 
were better for the publick that his hopes should de- 



LETTERS. 71 

pend upon the testamentary provision of his parent, 
than that the condition in which he is unhappily 
placed should receive the slightest sanction from legis- 
lative authority. That the patres patricB should beat 
the offender with one hand, and stroke him with the 
other, is a political solecism to be found no where, I 
believe, but in Virginia. With such features in her 
code of laws, it is not strange — it was, indeed, per- 
fectly in character that her philanthropic Governour 
Pao:e should begin an address to the convicts in prison 
with, " My dear unfortunate friends !" 

I did hope, my dear sir, to have heard from you 
once, at least, in the course of a very long winter. I 
cannot feel indifferent to whatever may concern your 
prosperity or that of your household. 

A certain events it seems, has not yet happened ; or, 
at any rate, is not publicly announced. May I know 
whether the parties from time to time " report prog- 
ress ?" If so, as far as depends on my vote, they 
shall have " leave to sit again ;" in full confidence, 
nevertheless, that the discussion will not be unneces- 
sarily protracted. 

My family, blessed be God, enjoy their usual health, 
notwithstanding the general prevalence of disease the 
present season. 

A disorder similar to the one at New Milford has 
proved fatal in four cases in the southern section of 
this town, and is making terrible ravages in various 
parts of Dutchess county. That " the judgments of 
heaven are abroad" in our country, is most manifest. 
If a heathen could say, "delirant reges, plectuntur 
Achivi," what shall be said by us who have " a more 
sure and certain word of prophecy ?" 



73 LETTERS. 



No. 8. 
FROM DR. HOLMES. 

Cambridge, 2d Sept., 1812. 

If we cannot meet to smoke the calumet, I am un- 
willing a year should pass without exchanging a belt 
of wampum. While, therefore, I renew my assuran- 
ces of holding you in affectionate remembrance, let this 
line be received as the belt, which confirms my words. 
The situation of my family, were there no other cause, 
must prevent my attendance at the Commencement of 
our Alma Mater this year. 

I had hoped you would do us the favour to keep one 
commencement with us ; and I still think that, beside 
all personal considerations, such a visit would have a 
good political effect. An intercourse of statesmen and 
patriots, who are " like-minded," must tend to unity of 
counsels and measures, and to reciprocal esteem, that 
must be conducive to the public welfare. Connecticut 
has long stood high in the estimation of the most en- 
lightened portion of Massachusetts ; and that estima- 
tion is still heightened by the wisdom and firmness of 
her measures since the Declaration of War. I wish 
the governors of these states and the principal states- 
men might meet on some of our great anniversaries, 
and " hold high converse." But I forbear, and come 
down to the simple, modest wish, that I might see my 
friend. This pleasure I cannot but anticipate at some 
time not far distant. Did I dare look forward a year, 
in this uncertain world, I would fix the date at the next 
Commencement at New Haven. 

" We take no note of time but from its loss." 

Are you aware, my dear friend, that, if we reach that 
period, thirty years will have elapsed since we left the 



LETTERS. 7a 

University ? How much of life is past ! How solemn 
our responsibilities ! A crowd of tender and interesting 
reflections rushes in, but I may not indulge them. Let 
us cherish them in silence, to the improvement of our 
virtue and our preparation for heaven. 

Should it please God to spare our lives to another 
anniversary of our Alma Mater, why should we not 
take that epoch for a convention of as many of our 
classmates as can be collected from the remaining 
"dispersion?" Why might we not dine together in 
the hall, or sup together at a coffee-house ? If, how- 
ever, we do but meet, we may assuredly have the best 
of all entertainments, " The feast of reason and the flow 
of soul." 



No. 9. 
FROM DR. HOLMES. 

Cambridge, 1st June, 1813. 

Did my time, at this busy season, permit me to write 
long epistles, yours would not permit you to read them. 
It is with us the period of the annual meeting of vari- 
ous literary and religious societies, as well as the great 
political anniversary ; and no part of the year brings 
with it so many duties and labours. What, at this 
same period, must be those of my friend, elevated as 
he now is to the chair of state ? 

On that elevation I sincerely congratulate you, both 
as it is the strongest expression of the estimation and 
confidence of the citizens of an enlightened Republic, 
and as it gives you an opportunity to render the most 
important services to them and to our common country. 

If the past is a pledge for the future, you will prove 
yourself worthy of this exalted station by the fidelity 

D 



74 LETTERS. 

with which you will perform its duties. Those, at this 
crisis, must be great and arduous, far beyond the du- 
ties of ordinary times ; and my prayer for you is, that 
you may have wisdom and virtue adequate to the exi- 
gency. Esse quam videri is a sentiment that cannot 
be too much commended ; but it need not sully the pu- 
rity of your motives, should your friend say, he indul- 
ges the pleasing belief that you may, at no distant pe- 
riod, be enrolled among those enlightened, firm, and 
patriotic statesmen of whom it shall be said, " They 
saved their country." 

The inclosed communication, which is the immedi- 
ate object of this letter, will show you that you were 
lately (let me add, unanimously) elected a correspond- 
ing member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 
The blank was filled up to your " Honour" by the Re- 
cording Secretary before the election in Connecticut ; 
the Corresponding Secretary purposely waited to have 
the pleasure of addressing it to your " Excellency." 
When I did myself the honour to nominate you to the 
Society, I had no expectation of this office ; it is a high 
gratification to me, that the first act I am called to per- 
form by virtue of it is to inform you of your election. 

You say not a word, my dear sir, about a visit to 
Massachusetts, nor about the proposed meeting of our 
class at the next Commencement at New Haven. If 
we may not see you here, it will give me great delight 
to meet you there, if practicable ; for, with all your 
" blushing honours," I shall depend on a fraternal in- 
terview, in the expectation that the governor will be- 
have as well as Clement XIV., who, when about to be 
elevated to the papal throne, said to his brother monks, 
" I shall be Brother Ganganelli still." 



LETTERS. 75 



No. 10. 
TO DR. HOLMES. 

Sharon, 6th August, 1813. 

My letter from Hartford of the 3d June last was 
addressed to you wholly in your official capacity, and 
could, therefore, contain nothing more than an expres- 
sion of the grateful sense I entertain of the high hon- 
our conferred upon me by a society the first in reputa- 
tion and consequence within our country. I was then 
on the point of departing, " miles gladio cinctus," for 
New London. The dulcet notes of lovo and friend- 
ship were lost in the din of arms. I have now returned 
from the campaign, and, pressing as my public cares 
still are, I am resolved the claims of my early and be- 
loved friend shall be no longer disregarded. 

I have feasted the year round upon the idea of meet- 
ing you and our surviving classmates at our next Com- 
mencement. 

Your proposition for the interview has been indus- 
triously circulated, and a general attendance is expect- 
ed. Our Symposium, however, is in some danger of 
being interrupted by the late proclamation for a nation- 
al f«5^. Were it not that we are indeed a sinful peo- 
ple, and have abundant occasion for humiliation and 
deep contrition, I can perceive nothing, either in the 
proclamation itself, or in the motives by which it was 
dictated, that should prevent us from exclaiming, 

" Diripiuntque dapes, contactuque omnia foedant 
Immundo." 

I have, nevertheless, felt it my duty, especially under 
the present adverse dispensations of Divine Providence 
towards this state, to give effect to this same procla- 
mation by issuing my own requiring the day to be ob- 



•76 LETTERS. 

served. It is, unfortunately, the day following the an- 
niversary of our Alma Mater, Unless the latter, there- 
fore, can be either hastened or postponed, the i-nconven- 
ience will be sensibly felt by both clergy and laity. 



No. 11. 
TO DR. HOLMES. 

Sharon, 25th June, 1814. 

The resolutions you had the goodness to send me 
are appropriate and excellent. I had before seen an 
account of the "religious solemnities," and was struck 
with their peculiar fitness to the occasion. (Excepting, 
perhaps, that I had too much of the blood of one of the 
earhest ministers of Boston in my veins, and too much 
reverence for his principles in my heart, to relish alto- 
gether the " religious" character of some of your per- 
formers ; and, since I am now in a parenthesis, I may 
as well utter, what I sensibly feel, a devout wish that 
you, my beloved friend, may ere long be permitted to 
celebrate, with truly " religious solemnity," the eman- 
cipation of your metropolis from principles as ruinous 
to the souls of men as those of Napoleon have been to 
their bodies and estates.) In contemplating these won- 
derful events, we hardly know which most to admire, 
the stupendous revolution itself, or the felicitous man- 
ner in which it is accomplished. 

Shall we not say of our Rock, " His work is per- 
fect ?" We anxiously inquire. What will be the bear- 
ing of these amazing dispensations of Providence upon 
our own country ? I think it must be auspicious. Peace 
will probably follow ; but this is not all. The war in 
Europe has been no other than a war with Democracy. 
It is now carried to the seat of the Beast ; his empire 



LETTERS. 77 

is destroyed ; and will not the effect of his overthrow 
reach to whatever corner of the world his influence 
extends? *****#** 
Surely no one ought to wish more ardently for peace 
than your friend. The cares attendant upon his situa- 
tion can neither be described by himself, nor conceived 
by others. I reflect with great pleasure upon our short 
interview in September — that momentary respite from 
solicitude and toil. To my imagination, it is not unlike 
one of those verdant hillocks, shaded with palm-trees 
and watered by a spring, which we are assured now 
and then regale the weary traveller in the deserts of 
Africa. When shall I arrive at another of these de- 
lightful stages ? I recollect you expressed at that time 
a desire for a profile, or some other resemblance, of 
your most humble servant. The only one I have is 
enclosed. You will perceive that it was taken when 
the original participated in the Gallic mania of crop- 
ping. As he has recovered (pardon me) his queue 
with his reason, you will probably not recognize it as 
" vera effigies." Imperfect as it is, may I not hope it 
will procure for me a more striking likeness of my ear- 
ly and highly valued friend ? My dear wife promises 
to give it the best niche in her drawing-room. 



No. 12. 
FROM DR. HOLMES. 

1814. 



Had I not been looking for an hour (such as I al- 
ways love to have when I write to you) of" calm con- 
templation and poetic ease," I should before this have 
answered your obliging letter of the 25th June. It 
was duly received, with its very estimable enclosure, 



78 LETTERS. 

for which I beg you to accept my most cordial thanks. 
It is in itself precious to me, as presenting always to 
my view the lineaments of a face which I ever beheld 
with delight, and as an index to talents and virtues 
which I ever admired and loved ; but it is more pre- 
cious still as a memorial of our early friendship and a 
pledge of its inviolable constancy. For these purposes 
the hkeness is sufficiently strong ; nor can the " Gallic 
crop" materially lessen the effect. The characteristic 
outline of the countenance is well drawn, and the en- 
graving is excellent. It is suspended, in a neat frame, 
in our best room ; and to-morrow (Commencement 
day) I hope to have the honour of introducing Gov- 
ernor Strong and Lieutenant-governor Phillips to your 
excellency. 

" O fallacem hominum spem !" How fondly have I 
been hoping for the opportunity of a real introduction. 
You, my dear friend, have encouraged that hope ; but 
I will not forget that your office requires you to see 
that the commonwealth receive no detriment. In this 
perilous crisis, I do presume that you cannot consist- 
ently go out of the Hmits of your own. It gives me 
great concern to find Connecticut so much harassed by 
a war, neither the principles nor the policy of which 
have had her countenance or support. The late move- 
ments of the enemy must have given you, no less than 
the citizens, disquietude. The result of the Stonington 
affair will, I hope, be favourable to your future quiet and 
theirs. But the Capitol is gone ! What next is to suc- 
ceed in the eventful history of our national calamity 
and degradation God only knows. May he prepare 
us for mercy by disposing us to penitence and amend- 
ment. It is our happiness to be assured that his coun- 
sel will stand, and that he will cause the wrath of man 



LETTERS, 79 

to praise him. In this, or some equally unhallowed 
passion, I fear the war had its origin. Were the au- 
thors of it the sole sufferers, there were less cause of 
regret or lamentation. But such is not the constitution 
of Heaven or the order of Providence. 

" Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntur AchivL" Still, 
while so many of the people " love to have it so," and 
support men who support such measures ; while, espe- 
cially, there are so many impieties and vices prevalent 
in our land, we ought not to " think strange of this fiery 
trial." May its influence be to purify us, and to impart 
to us that virtue so essential to a government like ours ; 
so essentia], especially, to the favor and benediction 
of that Being on whom all nations equally depend for 
safety and prosperity. I hope events will prove the 
correctness of your opinion respecting the auspicious 
influence of " the late amazing dispensations of Provi- 
dence upon our own country." The war is, indeed, 
" carried to the seat of the Beast." Did you imagine 
your remark would so soon admit a direct application 
to our own country ? It is carried to it here. But I 
must not say what I think and feel on this humiliating 
subject. May the God of our fathers preserve us ! 

I thank you for your Fifth Report of the Connecti- 
cut Bible Society. It proves the enlightened zeal and 
pious liberality of the inhabitants of the fairest portion 
of our country. 

Present me respectfully to your worthy lady, who 
does me so much honour in reserving a niche for me in 
her drawing-room. For that I have nothing that I can 
offer ; but do assure her that I shall feel still more hon- 
oured by a portion of the same esteem of which her 
husband has given me so dear a testimonial. 



60 LETTERS. 



No. 13. 
TO HON. S. W. JOHNSON. 

Sharon, 30th Dec, 1819. 

I thank you for your kind letter. You do me just- 
ice in believing that I have felt truly anxious for your 
safety ; you will, therefore, know how to appreciate 
my joy on your recovery. 

The signal interposition of Divine Providence in 
your behalf may well awaken those grateful emotions 
which you so happily express. To me it affords fresh 
proof that the care of Heaven is extended, in a pecul- 
iar manner, to those who keep " the first commandment 
with pr'omise;^' in a word, that filial duty is sure of a 
present as well as a future reward. Your account of 
the last moments of your venerable parent* is highly in- 
teresting. What abundant reason have you, my friend, 
to bless God that you have had such a parent, and that 
his long life has been so extensively useful to his fel- 
low-men — useful, till he reached a good old age, by 
the display of rare and exalted talents, and scarcely 
less useful, during the remainder of his days, by the 
mild and heavenly lustre of his example. Painful as 
the separation must have been, you cannot fail, in the 
midst of sorrow, to experience the richest consolation. 
I hope a detailed biographical memoir is preparing of 
one who has so nobly exemplified every public and 
private virtue ; and I should be gratified to learn to 
whom the important trust is committed. 



* The Hon. William Samuel Johnson, of Stratford, Conn. ; a man 
most distinguished for his acquirements as a scholar, and his accomphsh- 
ments as a gentleman. 



LETTERS. 81 



No. 14. 
FROM DR. HOLMES. 

Cambridge, 23d August, 1824. 

Our correspondence reminds me of an antediluvian 
one in the Spectator, in which the intervals betw^een 
the letters were proportioned to the age of man, which, 
you know, was reckoned by centuries. How long those 
intervals were, I have forgotten ; but I am sure we have 
great claims, in this particular, to the patriarchal char- 
acter. It becomes us, however, to recollect that hu- 
man life has been abridged since that period ; and that, 
if we reckon by tens instead of hundreds, we are in the 
last decade. Shall we not, my dear friend, meet again 
ere " the silver cord be loosed ?" The very thought 
of it is delightful, and the hope of it has had no small 
influence in determining me to attend the approaching 
Commencement at New Haven. Will you permit me 
to expect you there ? I shall construe silence for con- 
sent ; but I would rather have the assurance under 
your own dear signature. The number of our class- 
mates keeps on lessening ; the estimable Storrs has 
been taken from it since we last met. Let as many 
of us as Heaven permits come together. I have writ- 
ten to Austin, and intend to write to Lyman, and Good- 
rich, and Leonard, and Williston, to solicit their attend- 
ance. 

I say not one word now upon any subject, reserving 
every thing for the Talk at the Council Fire, where, 
as you regard our old treaty of perpetual friendship 
and amity, you will not fail to meet 

Your faithful and affectionate friend. 
D2 



%2 



LETTERS. 



No. 15. 
TO DR. HOLMES. 

Sharon, 6th Sept., 1824. 

The intervals allowed in antediluvian correspond- 
ence, to which you refer me, compare so nearly with 
that which has elapsed since you must have received 
my last letter, that I am not surprised you should avail 
yourself of the precedent. " Sed non allocatur^ In 
the postdiluvian court of friendship, no such authori- 
ties can be admitted. Indeed, I have long intended to 
summon you into that court; where, let me apprize 
you, your only justification must be, that you have 
been so constantly occupied in preparing further mon- 
uments of your piety and learning for the benefit of 
mankind at large, that no time could be spared for the 
ofiices of private friendship. To such a defence, duly 
supported by authentick documents, my philanthropy 
will compel me to surrender my individual claims, 
however costly the sacrifice. But, remember, I shall 
insist upon the proof. 

I do not know, my dear friend, a higher gratification 
than would be aflforded by the proposed interview with 
our remaining classmates ; it is, therefore, a subject of 
deep regret that a previous engagement to go in a dif- 
ferent direction obliges me to decline the invitation. 
The occasion is every way interesting ; and when I 
consider what a large portion of the survivors are 
learned, pious, and orthodox divines, I calculate with 
certainty that much spiritual improvement will be 
blended with the pleasures of social intercourse. 
How sincerely do I deplore the loss of so golden an 
opportunity. 



LETTERS. 83 



No. 16. - .- • 

FROM DR. HOLMES. 

Cambridge, 3d May, 1828. 

If the signs of affection have been wanting a good 
while, not so the thing signified. The intercourse of 
mind is never broken. I think of you often, and of 
" the days of other years," when we held sweet coun- 
sel together, as we walked over the fields or reposed 
in the cloister. The image of my early and beloved 
friend is still vivid, without the aid of that which sa- 
lutes the eye at my study door. I long to see the orig- 
inal. When will it be ? 

It long since occurred to me that, in case of another 
edition of American Annals, I might ask your friendly 
aid in an article of our history during the Madisonian 
war. On solicitation, I have committed the work, re- 
vised and enlarged, to the press, and have already 
come down to the year of Independence. My inten- 
tion is to close it at the end of 1826, and it will proba- 
bly be out early in autumn. For the political transac- 
tions during the late war, I want materials, and a Men- 
tor to advise me how to use them. The state papers 
and documents of the United States I have, but not 
those of particular states. As you were in the chair 
at the period referred to, the whole subject must be fa- 
miliar ; and I persuade myself it would not give you 
much care or trouble to furnish me with some matter 
and some advice. I remember well what you told me 
at the time concerning the ground you took as com- 
mander-in-chief of the militia of Connecticut, in refer- 
ence to the putting of your men under the command 
of United States officers. Will you, my dear sir, give 
me a brief statement of any other facts pertaining to 



54 LETTERS. 

the local history of the state over which you so hon- 
ourably presided in one of the most difficult and crit- 
ical periods of our history, or refer me to books and 
publications where I may find the most material facts 
and documents ? Will you give me one word upon 
the Hartford Convention ; its origin ; its result ? This 
subject, and that of the war generally, must, I know, 
be cautiously handled. I purpose to be very brief, 
and to let a few plain and principal facts speak for 
themselves ; but, my good friend, I do want your opin- 
ion and advice upon the subject, with whatever strict- 
ures may have occurred to you upon the Annals of the 
first impression. 



No. 17. 
TO DR. HOLMES. 

Sharon, 7th June, 1828. 

Your favour of the 3d ultimo has remained too long 
unanswered ; but I know your partiality will acquit me 
of intentional delay without requiring a formal defence. 

I heartily reciprocate the kind feelings you express, 
and proceed at once to the principal subject of your 
letter. 

" Infandum jubes renovare dolorem." I cannot re- 
flect upon the late war but with many painful emotions. 
Not a pleasurable sensation does the retrospect afibrd 
other than what arises from a grateful sense of the Di- 
vine beneficence towards our beloved country, and a 
consciousness of having endeavoured to perform my 
duty in the midst of unprecedented embarrassments. I 
make no allusion to the real origin of hostilities with 
England. Suffer me only to premise, that in the whole 
history of human affairs, it is probable, no other in- 



L E T T E R Si 85 

stance will be found of an offensive war declared in 
solemn form, without some preparation for the conflict. 
We were not only unprepared, but the nation had been 
drugged by the nostrums of political charlatans, until it 
was nearly in a state of exhaustion. Still the blow 
was struck, and must be followed up by such means as 
could then be obtained. One of the first measures con- 
sisted in sending ofl' the few regular troops then in serv- 
ice, upon an expedition through the wilderness into 
Upper Canada. To man the fortresses, therefore, on 
the maritime frontier, the president called upon the 
governours of states for militia, to be placed under 
officers of his own appointment. Governour Strong 
of Massachusetts, Governour Griswold of Connecticut, 
and Governour Jones of Rhode Island, upon whom 
these requisitions were severally made, resisted the de- 
mand, on the two-fold ground that neither of the consti- 
tutional exigencies had arisen, and that the militia could 
not be compelled to serve under any other than their 
own officers, with the exception of the president him- 
self, when personally in the field. 

This was in 1812 ; and as the enemy invaded neither 
of those states during that year, the miUtia remained 
unemployed. The Legislature of Connecticut, however, 
from a view of our exposed and defenceless condition, 
ordered a corps of regular troops to be raised, and also 
a corps of volunteer exempts ; the organization of 
which was eflfected the following winter.* Early in 
June, 1813, and shortly after my election, the Ameri- 
can squadron, commanded by Commodore Decatur, 
was chased by a British fleet of superior force into the 
harbour of New London. The town, as well as the 

* The organization of these several corps devolved upon me as Lieu- 
tenant-gOYemour, in consequence of the death of GoVeruoui' Griswold. 



86 L E T ILE R S. 

neighbouring coast, was thrown into great consterna- 
tion ; and the squadron itself was in no sense secure 
from capture or destruction. Without, therefore, wait- 
ing for instructions from the general government, a 
large body of militia was called into service ; and as 
the enemy continued in the chops of the harbour, 
threatening, and in some instances attempting, a descent 
upon our shores, successive detachments of militia and 
of the regular state troops were kept in the field during 
the whole campaign. Their pay and subsistence were 
assumed by the national government, and they were 
commanded exclusively by their own officers, the high- 
est of whom was a brigadier-general, although a Uni- 
ted States officer of the same rank was stationed on 
the ground. 

The year 1814 was remarkable for simultaneous 
operations against New England by the public enemy, 
and our own government ! The former declared the 
intention to lay waste the whole coast from Maine to 
Georgia, and made demonstration of that intention by 
the descent upon Pettipauge, and the destruction which 
followed in that harbour early in April. Guards of 
militia were consequently placed without delay at near- 
ly all the vulnerable points on our sea-board ; and 
where troops could not be stationed, patrols of videttes 
were constantly maintained. On the 3d of July, the 
secretary of war, under directions from the president, 
requested me to form a detachment from the militia, of 
three thousand men, with the proper officers, and a ma- 
jor-general at their head, and have them ready for ser- 
vice at the call of Brigadier-general Gushing of the 
United States army, then located at New London. I 
lost no time in complying with this request ; for, allow 
me to say, without incurring the charge of egotism, 



LETTERS. 87 

that whatever might be my opinion of the war, I was 
resolved to defend the state at every hazard, and to 
fulfil my federal obligations up to the spirit and letter 
of the Constitution I had sworn to support ; and such 
was evidently the disposition of every individual with 
whom I was associated in the state government. In 
August, the enemy attacked Stonington with a formi- 
dable naval force. Although the assault was repelled 
by the incredible bravery of a mere handful of militia 
volunteers, still, as the enemy had greatly increased his 
naval armament in the Sound, Brigadier-general Gush- 
ing, apprehending hostile movements upon New Lon- 
don and other points adjacent, sent me a requisition for 
seventeen hundred men of the detachment lately formed, 
to be commanded by a hrigadier-general. 'I issued im- 
mediately the necessary orders for this purpose. But 
as the number required constituted a majority of the 
whole detachment, the major-general who had been de- 
tailed from the militia under the instructions of the pres- 
ident, through the secretary of war, insisted on his 
right to command them. The claim, in my view, 
was sustained by the strictest rules of military usage 
and etiquette ; but, as the council were then in session, 
I submitted the question to that body for advice. They 
were unanimously of the same opinion. Accordingly, 
the major-general was sent. No sooner had he ap- 
peared on the ground, than Brigadier-general Gushing, 
perceiving that he would thus be deprived of a com- 
mand of the militia, which, for the first time, he had 
determined now to assume, refused to recognize either 
the major-general or his detachment as being in the 
service of the United States, and accordingly withheld 
all supplies ! 

Had the danger been less imminent, the troops would 



09 LETTERS. 

have been instantly ordered home. But I could not 
feel insensible to the distress and importunity of my 
fellow-citizens on the coast. Our own commissary- 
general, therefore, was directed to furnish the neces- 
sary subsistence, and the detachment ordered to re- 
main in service under the authority of the state. 
Troops were also sent for the defence of New Haven, 
and the guards augmented at other posts, and the 
whole placed under the command of the same major- 
general. Thus was the state abandoned by the gen- 
eral government, and exposed to the ravages of an in- 
censed enemy, with no other than its own resources, 
and these continually diminishing by an onerous system 
of taxation to supply the national coffers. The states 
of Massachusetts and Rhode Island were nearly in the 
same predicament. In the former, a large military 
force was in the field for the protection of the Common- 
wealth ; but as Governour Strong, who had in one in- 
stance yielded a portion of his militia to the command 
of a United States officer, had resolved not to repeat 
the experiment, the general government, through their 
military prefect at Boston, refused to acknowledge the 
troops as being in the national service ! and all this at a 
moment when the administration were without either 
money or credit ; when they must have rejoiced, one 
would think, if individual states would defend them- 
selves, and look to the national treasury for eventual 
remuneration ! At this period, the enemy entered the 
Chesapeake, captured the city of Washington, burnt 
the Capitol, and dispersed the members of the govern- 
ment. Surely the state authorities were of some value, 
when the whole federal system seemed to be thus prac- 
tically dissolved. Although these calamitous events 
produced, in the sequel, no decisive effect upon the 



letters; 89 

war, still, as the alarm and horror of the people were 
immeasurably excited, the pressure upon the state gov- 
ernments, especially such as had been deserted, became 
proportionably great. The Governour of Massachu- 
setts convoked the General Court of that commonwealth. 
The Legislature of Connecticut were about to hold 
their usual semi-annual session ; and the Legislature of 
Rhode Island also assembled, but whether at a regular 
or special session is not now recollected. 

When these several bodies met, w^hat should be done 
in this unexampled state of affairs became a subject of 
most solemn deliberation. To insure unity of views 
and concert in action, the Legislature of Massachusetts 
proposed a conference by delegates from the Leg- 
islatures of the New England States, and of any other 
states that should accede to the measure. 

Their resolution for this purpose, and the circular 
letter accompanying it, are public documents, and need 
not be here recited. They will, however, show that 
the duty proposed to be assigned to these delegates 
was merely to devise and recommend to the states, meas- 
m'es for their security and defence, and such measures 
as were " not repugnant to their obligations as members 
of the Union." The proposition was readily assented 
to by the Legislatures of Connecticut and Rhode Island, 
and the delegates appointed in pursuance of it met at 
Hartford on the 15th of December following, thus con- 
stituting the celebrated, and, I may add, calumniated 
Hartford Convention. The characters of the gentle- 
men composing it ought assuredly to shield them from 
the most distant imputation of unworthy conduct or 
motives ; for I doubt much whether more virtue and 
talent have been imbodied within this nation at any one 
period since the memorable Congress of 1774. With 



90 LETTERS. 

the exception of three respectable individuals from the 
counties of Cheshire and Grafton in New Hampshire, 
and of Windham in Vermont, what was this Conven- 
tion but the committees of three state Legislatures ap- 
pointed to confer upon a question deeply affecting their 
common interest, and to report their opinion and ad- 
vice ? Was this objectionable on any ground either of 
constitutionality or expediency ? Is it not even now, 
as it ever has been, the practice of contiguous states to 
confer together by their legislative committees on ques- 
tions relative to roads and canals through their respect- 
ive territories, and other subjects of internal improve- 
ment ? and are these of higher concern than the pres- 
ervation of life itself, with all its precious interests ? 
If there is, then, nothing to which the most refined po- 
litical casuist can object in the organization of this body, 
what will he find to condemn in their report? That 
instrument is before the world, and will speak for itself* 
Suffer me, however, to say, that the Convention recom- 
mended in substance, 1. That the states they repre- 
sent take measures to protect their citizens from " for- 
cible drafts, conscriptions, or impressments, not author- 
ized hy the Constitution of the United States." 2. That 
an earnest application be made to the government of 
the United States for their consent to some arrange- 
ment, whereby the states, separately or in concert, may 
assume upon themselves the defence of their territory 
against the enemy ; and that a reasonable proportion 
of the taxes collected within the states be appropriated 
to this object. 3. That the several governours be au- 
thorized by law to employ the military force under 
their command, in assisting any state requesting it to re- 

* If you have not this document, I will furnish you with my official 
copy, under the autographical signatures of the members. 



LETTERS. 91 

pel the invasion of the public enemy. 4. They recom- 
mend the adoption of several amendments of the na- 
tional Constitution, calculated, in their view, to prevent 
a recurrence of the evils of which they complain. 
Lastly, should the application to Congress fail of suc- 
cess — should the war continue, and the defence of these 
states be still neglected, they recommend the appoint- 
ment of other delegates by their respective Legislatures, 
to meet at Boston in the month of June then ensuing, 
" clothed with such powers and instructions as the exi- 
gency of a crisis so momentous may require ;" closing 
with a provision for again convening their own body, 
if, in the interim, the situation of the country shall ur- 
gently demand it. Is there any thing here inconsistent 
with strict loyalty to the national authorities, or with 
the principles of a perfect union of these states ? In- 
deed, I have never heard of an objection to the meas- 
ures of the Convention. The most important of these 
measures, as we shall presently see, were even sanc- 
tioned by Congress itself. Their resolutions, it is true, 
were preceded by a series of remarks calculated to in- 
flict a severe and merited castigation upon the authors 
of a war, wholly unjustifiable both in its origin and in 
the mode of conducting it. " Hlnc illce lachrymcE" 
But for the preamble, it is believed, neither the report, 
nor the Convention itself, nor the states appointing it, 
would have met with either cavil or rebuke. The ef- 
fect upon the public mind in the aggrieved states, as 
you may well remember, was both seasonable and sal- 
utary. The exasperation of the people at the conduct 
of the administration, was evidently softened by the pro- 
posal to call a convention; and their entire confidence 
in the wisdom and firmness of the men delegated to 
that important trust, served greatly to allay the angry 



92 LETTERS. 

passions, and to inspire patience and hope. Nor was 
the influence of this body upon the national councils 
less perceptible. The daring project of filling the ranks 
of the regular army by a conscription, was abandoned, 
notwithstanding it had been officially recommended by 
the secretary of war, and reported by a committee of 
Congress. Within three weeks after the adjournment 
of the Convention and the publication of their report, 
an act passed both houses of the national Legislature, 
and received the signature of the president, authorizing 
and requiring him to receive into the service of the 
United States any corps of troops which may have 
been or may be raised, organized, and officered under 
the authority of any of the states, and to be employed 
in the state raising the same, or an adjoining state, and 
NOT ELSEWHERE, except with the consent of the executive 
of the state raising the same." Substantially the very 
system of defence proposed by the Convention ! Had 
it been adopted in season, that body, in all probability, 
would never have assembled. Adopted as it was, 
however, it served completely to authenticate their 
doings, and to demonstrate the policy and the necessity 
of their appointment. I will add, that before our com- 
missioners appointed to confer with the government, 
could reach Washington, a bill passed the Senate pro- 
viding for the payment of the troops and militia already 
called into service under the authority of the states, 
and would undoubtedly have received the concurrence 
of the other branch, had not the arrival of the treaty 
of peace at this juncture arrested all further proceed- 
ings. You will probably, my dear friend, not soon for- 
get the delirium of joy which the auspicious but unex^ 
pected return of peace produced throughout our whole 
population. The reflecting portion of the nation, al- 



LETTERS. 93 

though they perceived in the treaty no reference what- 
ever to any one avowed object of the war, yet rejoiced 
that an intolerable burden was removed — that we had 
escaped, comparatively, with so Httle injury — that the 
union of the states and the integrity of their territory 
were preserved — that such resources had been devel- 
oped, and such courage and magnanimity displayed — 
particularly that our little navy, reared in better times, 
and saved by Divine Providence from the ruthless 
hands of self-styled political reformers, had covered it- 
self with glory ; and they poured out their hearts in 
gratitude to the God of our fathers at the prospect of 
His having thus graciously rendered the folly and mad- 
ness of our rulers subservient to the future prosperity 
and aggrandizement of the nation. 

The foregoing relation, brief and plain as it is, may 
be more minute than you desired. But as the events 
were intimately connected, they seemed to require an 
unbroken narrative. I have endeavoured to state the 
facts truly according to my best recollection, aided by 
such documents as are now at hand. Other and fur- 
ther evidence might have been obtained by applying to 
the public records ; and, it is possible, for the want of 
it, some errours may have intervened. I trust, how- 
ever, these are neither numerous nor material. It will 
afford me much pleasure if I have suggested any thing 
which may be of use in the prosecution of your inqui- 
ries. 

I am truly gratified that you are engaged in giving 
to the world another edition of your Annals, brought 
down to a late period. Although the limits you have 
prescribed to yourself must preclude any very extend- 
ed details, still the call for a second edition is flattering 
proof, if further proof were necessary, of the high es- 



94 LETTERS. 

timation in which that most valuable work is held by 
an enlightened community. 



No. 18. 
FROM DR. HOLMES. 

Cambridge, 8th June, 1829. 

If I have not before acknowledged your very obliging 
and seasonable reply to my letter of inquiry written to 
you a year since, the pressure of time for the prepara- 
tion of your papers and others for my work, then in the 
press, with my pastoral duties, must be my apology. I 
now very cordially thank you for the information you 
gave me on a subject of great importance, but of diffi- 
cult and delicate touch. 

If I have treated it justly and properly, it was by your 
guidance and aid ; and it will give me great pleasure to 
know that it proves satisfactory to you, whatever may 
be the judgment of others. 

I send you a copy of plain sermons, delivered not 
long since to my society, from which you will perceive 
the trials to which we are called for the steadfast main- 
tenance of those religious principles, which the pastor 
and Church believe (and which it is delightful to me to 
be assured that you, my dear friend, believe) to be the 
essential principles of the Gospel. 



No. 19. 



TO MRS. REEVE, ON THE DEATH OF J. BURR REEVE. 

Sharon, August 20, 1829. 

I have this day received a letter from our mutual 
friend. Judge Wolcott, announcing the death of young 
Mr. Reeve ! Out of the circle of my near relatives, no 



LETTERS. 95 

event of a similar kind could have been to me more 
deeply afflictive. My own sensations enable me to es- 
timate the intensity of yours on this melancholy occa- 
sion — this early failure of the last earthly hope of your 
lamented husband. Indeed, no case has occurred within 
my experience, which, in all its aspects, so forcibly de- 
monstrates the instability of sublunary joy, the fallacy of 
all human expectation ! You, dear madam, who have 
ever shown to the beloved youth the fondness of a moth- 
er, and who must now feel the anguish of a mother, will 
greatly need the consolation which the religion you pro- 
fess is so well calculated to afford. May you enjoy it 
in all its extent, and be enabled to bless God that He 
has imbued you with a just sense of the rectitude of His 
government, and of the duty of quietly submitting to 
His holy dispensations ! 



No. 20. 
TO DR. HOLMES. 

Sharon, 2d Sept., 1829. 

I received, a short time since, your letter under the 
date of 8th of June last, accompanied by two volumes 
of your " Annals of America," and the two sermons, the 
whole constituting a precious memorial of your affec- 
tion, the more precious as it is the heart offering at the 
shrine of friendship the finest productions of the under- 
standing. I should have acknowledged the favour im- 
mediately, but I had a strong desire first to examine the 
volumes, and to read and digest the sermons. Of the 
former I freely expressed my opinion when presented 
with the first edition — an opinion which your modesty 
then ascribed to the partiality of a friend, but which, it 
is delightful to know, has been fully sanctioned by the 



96 LETTERS. 

best judges and most enlightened critics on both sides 
of the Atlantic. The additional matter contained in the 
present edition will in no degree diminish the value and 
the reputation of the work. It embraces a highly im- 
portant period in our national existence, one which call- 
ed into exercise all the bitterness of party spirit, and, I 
might add, all the bad passions of the human heart. It 
required, therefore, as you justly observe, " a delicate 
touch." In other w^ords, it demanded a strict adherence 
to sober truth, without the least mixture of political prej- 
udice. And I do think you have accomplished the end 
perfectly. I am particularly pleased with the just view 
you have taken of the Convention at Hartford, so long 
the subject of gross and unmerited abuse ; and I rejoice, 
with all the friends of truth and justice, that the trans- 
action is at length placed in fair colours upon the page 
of history. 

Previously to the receipt of your letter, I had heard 
of your parochial difficulties, and had read with deep 
interest the result of the council convened at the call of 
the pastor and church. Your two discourses, so feel- 
ingly, and, allow me to say, so admirably framed, have 
led me to a full view of the merits of the case. I have 
since learned from another source that your adversa- 
ries, in the plenitude of their " liberality, ^^ have shut the 
doors of the sanctuary against you, and that you are 
compelled to discharge your ministerial duties in some 
other apartment. Blessed be God, he has set bounds 
which they may not pass. His promises are sure, and 
the Church is safe. Sections of it may indeed be thrown 
into great tribulation — nay, the entire Bush may burn, 
but we know it cannot be consumed. It is, however, 
unnecessary, nor does it become me to point you to that 
source of consolation from which you have so long 



LETTERS. 97 

drawn such copious supplies both for yourself and your 
flock. Rest assured, rny beloved friend, of rny fervent 
prayers that you may be upheld by the omnipotent arm 
of the Saviour during the fiery trial which you are call 
ed to sustain for the faith once delivered to the saints. 
You have contended for it nobly, and, I doubt not, there 
is in reserve for you a crown of unfading glory. 

One word respecting your University. I am acquaint- 
ed with the new president, and think favourably of his 
acquirements as a scholar, and of his manners as a gen- 
tleman. It is said that he contemplates great changes 
in the system of education — that, having visited the col- 
leges at the South, he has selected Mr. Jefferson's con- 
trivance at Charlottesville for his model, and that, con- 
sequently, your college edifices are to be converted into 
pavilions, hotels, and dormitories ; the pupils to be con- 
fined to no particular course of study, and subjected to 
no penal rules of discipline, and especially to no relig- 
ious observances whatever. I know not whether, in 
the last particular, there would be much of a change. 
Now, if Mr. Quincy has really become a disciple of the 
" Sage of Monticello," it will excite my especial wonder. 
When in Congress together, we agreed perfectly in 
opinion that Mr. J. was as destitute of common sense 
as he confessedly was of all pretensions to religion of 
any kind. I have met with nothing since to change my 
opinion. Mr. Q. may have been more fortunate. But 
oh, my heart melts within me whenever I think of that 
ancient institution, the pride and the hope of the Pil- 
grims. If their spirits take cognizance of things below, 
what must be their sensations ? 



W LETTERS. 



No. 21. 



TO REV. LEONARD E. LATHROP, D.D. 

Sharon, 3d April, 1830. 

My views of Freemasonry accord entirely with yours, 
so far as I am acquainted with its object or its effects. 

My personal knowledge of the system is extremely 
limited. What little information I possess concerning 
it, is derived almost wholly from the disclosures which 
have been recently made by masons of the higher grades. 
By all I can discover, I am irresistibly brought to the 
conclusion that the institution is radically unsound, and 
that in its operation, whatever may have been the orig- 
inal intention, it is essentially anii- Christian. I therefore 
think professing Christians, who happen to be members 
of the fraternity, should abandon it. To do this, it is 
not necessary, in my opinion, that we should post our- 
selves in the publick newspapers, nor that we should 
disclose the secrets of the order, nor that we should en- 
list under the banners of any anti-masonick combination. 
It is sufficient, I humbly conceive, that we calmly and 
frankly express, on all fit occasions, our altered views 
of the institution, and our determination to hold no fur- 
ther communication nor correspondence with it. If the 
individuals in your church and congregation who be- 
long to the lodge could be brought to view the subject 
in this light, they might at once relieve their pastor, 
and themselves also, from all embarrassment ; for in 
that case, nothing more would be necessary than that 
you state publickly, on some suitable occasion (and I 
apprehend it could not be better done than in the very 
terms of your letter), the sentiments now entertained by 
yourself and them in relation to the institution, and your 
consequent resolution to recede from it altogether. 



LETTERS. 99 

This might not wholly satisfy those who make opposi- 
tion a mere political engine, but it would be strictly 
keeping a " conscience void of offence (in this respect) 
toward God and toward men." 



No. 22. 
TO HON. S. W. JOHNSON. 

Sharon, July 19th, 1830. 

I have received and read with great pleasure the 
pamphlet you had the goodness to send me. It is a re- 
spectable performance in any point of view; but its 
chief value, in my estimation, consists in the handsome 
though brief memorial which the writer has presented 
of your illustrious father. I had long and anxiously 
looked for a much more extended memoir, and even 
now I am unwilling to abandon the hope of seeing it 
accomplished ; for it does seem incredible that a long 
life filled up with active and dignified employment, 
should have left behind few traces of its useful and 
brilliant career. And yet I am assured that such is 
the lamentable fact with respect to nearly all the de- 
parted fathers of New England. A gentleman who 
had undertaken their biography, and who is well quali- 
fied for the task, wrote me a short time since that he 
was compelled to relinquish the attempt as altogether 
hopeless ; that, after the most diligent research, the ma- 
terials he was enabled to collect were too meagre to 
furnish portraits which would be either creditable to 
the individuals concerned, or satisfactory to the publick ; 
and, as an instance illustrative of the subject, he states 
" that scarcely even a business letter of the late Chief- 
justice Ellsworth can be found !" Thus regardless were 
these venerated statesmen and patriots of " the honour 



100 LETTERS. 

which Cometh from man." But their "record is on 
high ;" and if the monuments of their individual great- 
ness can now scarcely be seen, still the blessed fruits 
of their labours are every where visible in the pros- 
perity and glory of our country. Had they devoted a 
little time to autobiography, they would have conferred 
a rich favour upon succeeding generations. If your 
father, for example, after retiring from the presidency 
of Columbia College, had employed a portion of his 
leisure in writing his own memoirs, what a fund of in- 
struction and entertainment would they have yielded to 
posterity ! How comparatively easy then would have 
been the task of filling up a full-length portrait of one 
who, for ardent piety, profound learning, unrivalled elo- 
quence, beauty of person, and elegance of manners, 
was justly the admiration of the age in which he lived ? 
What his modesty probably prevented him from ac- 
complishing, it is the bounden duty of the present gen- 
eration, as far as possible, to supply. 



No. 23. 
TO REV. DR. HOLMES. 

Sharon, 22d Nov., 1830. 

My late visit to Boston appears like a dream ; pleas- 
ant indeed, but, as the best of dreams generally are, 
imperfect. To render the vision complete, I should 
have entered your domicil, have beheld there the ob- 
jects of conjugal and parental tenderness, and have ex- 
patiated a while in that library, where so much has been 
achieved by its learned and indefatigable proprietor for 
the benefit of the present and future generations. I la- 
ment that this deficiency must now be supplied by con- 
jecture alone. Still, it is a subject of devout thankful- 



LETTERS. 101 

ness that I enjoyed so much of your society, and es- 
pecially that we were permitted to celebrate anew our 
early friendship at the table of our Divine Redeemer. 
May we, " by a holy perseverance, pass on from shad- 
ows to substances ; from the typical, sacramental, and 
transient, to the real and eternal supper of the Lamb." 
This last sentence you will readily recognize as ex- 
tracted from the book which you so kindly presented to 
me, which is so appropriate to my age and condition, a 
portion of which I daily read, and always with a de- 
lightful reminiscence of my generous and highly-valued 
friend. 

Your far-famed metropolis greatly surpassed my ex- 
pectations. I had anticipated a splendid array of wealth 
and magnificence — of noble establishments for com- 
mercial, and literary, and charitable purposes, and the 
whole enlivened by an active and intelligent, a hospi- 
table and high-minded population ; and these anticipa- 
tions, to say the least, were fully realized. But I had 
formed no adequate conception of the magical effect 
produced by standing on that memorable ground — of 
the all-absorbing associations which the objects around 
me would necessarily awaken. With what impressions 
did I enter Faneuil Hall, the Cradle of Liberty — nay, 
the genial bed on which she first saw the light ! What 
were my emotions, when, from the summit of the State- 
house, I beheld for the first time the surrounding coun- 
try, and selected from the rich and varied prospect the 
early and blood-stained scenes of our glorious Revolu- 
tion ! emotions which admit of no description, and 
which can never be felt but by those who lived at that 
momentous period. You and I, my friend, are of that 
favoured number. You therefore can appreciate the 
thrilling sensations which agitated my whole frame. 



102 LETTERS. 

My stay in a place of so much enchantment was 
certainly too short, but sufficiently long to create a rich 
fund of reflection for the residue of my earthly pilgrim- 
age. 

The next morning after we separated, I had the 
pleasure of an interview with Messrs. Otis and Sulli- 
van. In the course of conversation, I asked their opin- 
ion of the continuation of your American Annals, of 
the notice you had taken of the events of the late war, 
and particularly of the Hartford Convention, of which 
body, as you know, they wei*e both members. Judge 
of my surprize when both observed that they had not 
seen the work ! Their surprize, however, at their own 
inattention, seemed fully equal to mine. They re- 
proached themselves, and declared they should send 
immediately for the volumes, a resolution which they 
have doubtless carried into effect. I was happy to hear 
them pay a just tribute of praise to the first edition, and 
express their entire confidence in the faithful execution 
of the last. 

I enclose a copy of the letter addressed to Rev. John 
Cotton by Oliver Cromwell. You will recollect a copy 
was found amongst the papers of the late Dr. W. S. 
Johnson, and by his son delivered to me, with the assur- 
ance that his father considered it the copy of a genuine 
letter. The enclosed is a faithful transcript of that 
copy, even with a scrupulous observance of the orthog- 
raphy. 



No. 24. 
FROM DR. HOLMES. 

Cambridge, 10th March, 1831. 

When walking or sitting together, " thought meeting 



LETTERS. 103 

thought," we find no difficulty about words : " verba 
haud invita sequentur." Why is it so much harder to 
wt'ite ? In the one case, we choose and vary our sub- 
jects as we please ; find what is mutually interesting at 
the time or in retrospect; put frequent questions, and 
give quick answers ; and are not conscious of care or 
eftbrt. It is a united and simultaneous exercise. If one 
is silent for a moment, the other speaks. No time is 
lost. Nor is it measured. " With thee conversing, I 
forget all time." But when we write, so many feelings 
rise up, and so many thoughts rush in, that we find it 
hard to manage either the one or the other, especially 
both together. There is all the difference which there 
is between a dialogue and a soliloquy ; in the first, you 
and I always agreed, and we closed, you remember, 
our classical course with it ; not so easily, though not 
less affectionately, in the other. But I am philosophiz- 
ing, instead of either talking or writing. Your letter, 
with its enclosure, was duly received. It gave me great 
pleasure to find that your visit to Boston and vicinity was 
so delightful to you. It was my ardent wish to protract 
it, that we might fairly see you at our own house in 
Cambridge ; but, like another governor before you, you 
" was doing a great work, and could not come down." 
It was, my Christian friend, a great and good work 
which you came to do, and I rejoiced to find you doing 
it. Few, if any, associations in our country are so im- 
portant in design, or so useful in eflfect, as the Board of 
Commissioners over which you preside. May the Di- 
vine blessing still attend your counsels and labours, and 
may the united efforts of Christians in which we have 
the privilege to partake, be the means of enlightening 
" the dark places of the earth," and of saving many souls 
that are ready to perish. 



104 LETTERS. 

The president fairly out-generaled me. I should not 
have turned so readily on my heel at the college gate, 
from my house towards his, had I known there would be 
"nulla vestigia retrorsum." But I soon learned your 
engagement, and was glad of even a short interview in 
the president's study. The opportunity of meeting you 
afterward in Boston I shall ever consider, with you, " a 
subject of devout thankfulness, and especially that we 
were permitted to cement anew our early friendship at 
the table of our Divine Redeemer.*' 

Impressive as was this scene at the church, the im- 
pression of it after we retired was, and continues to be, 
greater than I can tell you. To your pious wish in the 
expressive words of Taylor, I truly respond : " May we, 
by a holy perseverance, pass on from shadows to sub- 
stances ; from the typical, sacramental, and transient, to 
the real and eternal supper of the Lamb." 

The church which we were beginning to erect when 
you were here, is finished in a style of chaste simplicity 
that pleases every body. It is furnished with a good 
bell, and was dedicated on the 23d of February. Your 
friend (the senior pastor) preached the dedication ser- 
mon, from Jer., vi., 16. The hand of the God of our 
fathers " has been upon us for good," and we still hope 
for his presence and blessing. Most of the pews are 
engaged ; and if we may be instrumental in retaining 
here the principles of our pious forefathers — the princi- 
ples of the Protestant Reformation held by the revered 
Shephard and the founders of this First Church in Cam- 
bridge, and accordant, as we believe, with the pure 
doctrines of the Gospel — and in transmitting them to 
our descendants, we shall not have lived in vain ; and 
to God we will give all the glory. 

The copy of the letter addressed to your venerable 



LETTERS. 105 

ancestor, the Rev. John Cotton, by the Lord Protector 
Cromwell, which you obHgingly sent to me, I commu- 
nicated to the Historical Society at a late meeting, and 
it attracted much attention. It was dehvered to the 
Committee of Publications with an extract from your 
letter, giving an account of it ; and I inserted this among 
the communications to the society, to be officially ac- 
knowledged. 

I concur in judgment with you respecting President 
Quincy's Centennial Address, and trust it has done 
much towards illustrating the character and disabusing 
the memory of our forefathers. The eloquent perora- 
tion I had thought, in the reading, approximated, if it 
did not fully reach, the character which you assign to 
it in an epithet which is always in high estimation among 
the sons of the Pilgrims. That part of the Address was 
received with great delight and applause by the " ortho- 
dox" Christians. 



No. 25. 
TO MR. HUMPHREYS (tHEN A STUDENT AT COLLEGe). 

Sharon, August 2, 1831. 

No apology was necessary for addressing me on the 
subject of your letter. I feel that one is due to you for 
my delay in acknowledging the receipt of it. To ad- 
vise you in the choice of a profession at this early stage 
of your education, and without the advantage of a per- 
sonal acquaintance, would be presumptuous in me, and, 
so far as my opinion could have influence, might be un- 
safe for you. The best advice I can give, is to post- 
pone a decision of the question until the close of your 
collegiate course. A decision now may tempt you to 
pay attention prematurely to professional studies, where- 

E2 



106 LETTERS. 

as the entire quadrennial period is sufficiently brief, for 
the acquisition of that degree of general literature and 
science which is deemed essential to a liberal education, 
and, of course, to eminence in either of the learned pro- 
fessions. Your present views, moreover, may undergo 
a material change ; for in the progress of academical 
instruction, and as your mental powers expand, faculties 
may be developed of which you are now unconscious, 
but which may have a most important bearing upon your 
future prospects. Having finished your collegiate ca- 
reer, you will be better prepared to examine the state 
of your own heart, and to consult such discreet friends 
as shall be intimately acquainted with your particular 
endowments. By their advice, with a humble trust in 
the Divine guidance, you may confidently hope that 
your desire to be useful in the world will receive a wise 
and auspicious direction. The respective professions 
require appropriate qualifications, and it would be well 
that every candidate for either should bear in mind the 
Roman proverb, " Non ex quovis ligno Mercurius fit." 
Stripped of its pagan allusion, the sentiment is a sound 
one, and the neglect of the admonition it conveys has 
doubtless blighted the hopes of many a youthful aspi- 
rant. 

I agree with you that a professor of religion may 
consistently engage in either the legal or medical pro- 
fession ; indeed, it is highly desirable that every lawyer 
and physician should be distinguished alike for talents 
and piety. But, as you justly remark, these professions 
are already filled to overflowing, and you admit that 
the Church of Christ stands in great need of pious and 
evangelical ministers. Now, under these circumstances, 
what is the duty of a well-educated youth, of unfeigned 
piety, and acknowledged ministerial gifts ? When he 



LETTERS. 107 

prays, as the Saviour has taught him to " pray, the 
Lord of the harvest that he v^^ould send forth labourers 
into his harvest," will he not be constrained to add, 
"here, Lord, am I, send me?" But, as I have before 
observed, it will be in season for you to answer these 
questions when you shall have completed your academ- 
ical course ; and, in the mean time, I desire you to be 
assured that the style and purport of your letter have in- 
spired me with respect for your scholastick attainments, 
and with the warmest wishes for your prosperity. 



No. 26. 
FROM HON. THEODORE DWIGHT. 

New York, July 22d, 1833. 

I have not been able to ascertain, with a sufficient 
degree of certainty, the number of men belonging to 
the militia of Connecticut, that were in the field in 1813 
and 1814. Supposing it possible that you might have 
the means of ascertaining it with as much precision as 
is necessary for my purposes, I have taken the liberty 
to trouble you with this letter. The subject of the mi- 
litia is so immediately connected with my projected 
book on the Hartford Convention, that I want to state, 
as nearly as may be, the number of troops to justify 
the appointment of a major-general. If you should be 
able to give me this information, without giving your- 
self too much trouble, you will greatly oblige me. 



No. 27. 
TO HON. THEODORE DWIGHT. 

Sharon, July 27tli, 1833. 

I fear it will not be in my power to furnish a very 



108 LETTERS. 

satisfactory answer to your inquiry respecting the 
number of our militia in the field during the years 1813 
and 1814. The muster-rolls and pay-rolls, as well as 
the original correspondence with the general govern- 
ment and its officers during the war, relative to the 
employment of our militia, were forwarded at the 
peace to Senators Dana and Daggett, for the purpose 
of substantiating the claim of the State upon the na- 
tional treasury for military services and supplies. 
Amongst the papers still retained, I can not find any 
document which will enable me to state the precise 
number employed in 1813. No militia were in ser- 
vice until Com. Decatur's squadron entered the har- 
bour of New London, to escape from the pursuit of 
the British fleet, 1st of June in that year. A whole 
brigade was then called out to protect the squadron and 
the town, and continued in service until repairs were 
made at Fort Trumbull, and were commenced at Fort 
Griswold, when they were relieved by regular and 
successive detachments of militia, until the close of 
the campaign. At no time, I believe, within that pe- 
riod, was there less than a regiment on duty ; and, 
occasionally, in seasons of alarm, a much greater 
number. 

The wanton destruction of our merchant vessels in 
the harbour of Pettipauge by a detachment from the 
hostile squadron early in April, 1814, produced so 
much consternation along the coast, that I deemed it 
expedient, in compliance with the earnest entreaties 
of our citizens, and in concert with Inspector-general 
Kingsbury, United States officer at New London, to 
station guards of militia at nearly all the assailable 
points on our maritime frontier. Their aggregate 
number is not recollected. On the 4th of July, 1814, 



LETTERS. 109 

the secretary of war sent me a requisition for 3000 
militia, with a brigadier-general and a major-general, 
to be detached and held in readiness for service, at the 
call of Brigadier-general Gushing, recently stationed 
at New London. Orders were immediately issued, 
and the necessary details perfected without delay. 
During the attack upon Stonington, early in August, a 
brigade of militia in the vicinity were called into the 
field ; and to relieve them. General Gushing sent me a 
requisition for 1700 men from the detachment just or- 
ganized, to be commanded by their brigadier-general. 
They were despatched accordingly, with an intima- 
tion, however (sanctioned, as you will remember, by 
the unanimous advice of the council), that, as he had 
asked for a majority of the detachment, the major- 
general already detailed, who claimed the right to 
command them, would be on the ground at an early 
day. Meanwhile, the citizens of New Haven and the 
adjacent ports, alarmed by the threat of the British 
admiral to lay waste our whole frontier, presented an 
urgent application for an augmentation of the force 
already stationed at those points ; and by the advice 
of the council, and the concurrent opinion of General 
Gushing (an opinion expressed, probably, under an ex- 
pectation that they would be placed under his imme- 
diate command), six hundred men of the State troops, 
commanded by Gapt. Sanford, were ordered to those 
posts. Thus, by the beginning of September, 2300 men 
were in actual service. The major-general reached 
New London about the same time, but no sooner was 
his arrival announced, than General Gushing refused 
to consider the troops as any longer in the national 
service, and instantly stopped their pay and subsist- 
ence, although the necessity for their employment was 



110 LETTERS. 

then as urgent as at any previous moment, for the na- 
tional squadron still remained in the same exposed and 
defenceless condition. By this unwarrantable proce- 
dure, the whole expense of the armament was thrown 
upon the State, already suffering not a little from the 
ruinous policy and fiscal exactions of the general gov- 
ernment. It was whilst the people of Connecticut 
were writhing under the pressure of the war, and the 
unjust and ungenerous conduct of the administration 
towards them, that the proposition came from Massa- 
chusetts, then in a similar situation, for " a conference" 
upon the proper course to be pursued at this juncture. 
The proposition was assented to, and hence originated 
the Convention, a history of whose proceedings we 
hope soon to receive from your pen. I rejoice that 
the work is in such hands, and that justice will at 
length be rendered to an assembly greatly calumnia- 
ted, but which, for patriotism and intelligence, for pu- 
rity and elevation of character, has been rarely equal- 
led, and never surpassed. 



No. 28. 
TO REV. DR. BRIGHAM. 

Sharon, Jan. 4th, 1835. 

Your remarks upon our recent affliction, in the death 
of our beloved grandson,* are alike just and consola- 
tory, and are indeed oil to our wounded spirits. Con- 
sidered in all its aspects, it is the sorest chastisement 
we have ever received at the hand of our heavenly 
Father. Shall we complain ? We may wonder and 
weep, but not a murmur should escape us. "Just and 
true are thy ways, thou King of saints !" 
* See Appendix K. 



LETTERS. Ill 

Whilst I adore with you the good hand of God upon 
the American Bible Society the current year thus far, 
I must be allowed to express my surprise at the course 
pursued by our Baptist brethren, to which you allude. 
Did they seriously believe that our society, composed 
as it is principally of those who differ toto codo from 
them, both as to the subjects and mode of baptism, 
would tamely surrender their opinions, and directly 
sanction an opposite doctrine ? And have they, with- 
out previous notice, appropriated the donation of the 
society to the very purpose of procuring such a sanc- 
tion? Surely our brethren are not aware that they 
thus expose themselves to the apostolic censure of 
" walking in craftiness,'' and " handling the word of 
God deceitfully" as well as to the suspicion that prose- 
lytism rather than evangelism was their primary mo- 
tive in the missionary enterprize. I rejoice that Presi- 
dent Wayland and Dr. Sharpe entertain more liberal 
views, and I can not but hope that through their influ- 
ence a corrective will be applied. Nothing certainly 
is easier than to follow the example of our English 
translators in adopting the original with an English 
termination, wherever a word of strictly correspond- 
ing import could not be found, as in baptize, apostle, 
Christians, and many others. Nay, they made no 
scruple in taking the original itself without change, if 
necessary, as in the GrcecoSyriac phrase " anathema 
maranatha^ in the memorable declaration of the Sav- 
iour, " I am Alpha and Omega," and numerous other 
instances in the Old and New Testaments. But the 
translators of our English Bible were wonderful men. 
They felt, as all translators of the Scriptures should 
feel, that a high responsibility rested upon them as 
organs of communication from Heaven to their fellow- 



112 LETTERS. 

mortals, and that they were solemnly bound to be as 
faithful in rendering, as the inspired penmen were in 
recording, the messages of the Almighty. With this 
estimate of their duty, it was impossible for them to 
make the Word of God subservient to sectarian views, 
to theological subtleties, or to the dissemination of 
philological innovations. In short, we scarcely know 
which most to admire, their directness and purity of 
purpose, or their profound learning and exalted piety. 
I am sometimes enthusiastick enough to believe that 
the English language will finally become the vernacu- 
lar tongue of all nations, and the English Bible find a 
place in every human habitation. At all events, it 
becomes us, at this day, to guard the Sacred Text 
with a vigilance proportioned to the violations with 
which, either from design or from carelessness, it is 
assailed. You suggested the same thing in a former 
letter, and intimated, if I mistake not, the expediency 
of a concert on the part of the Christian publick in dis- 
countenancing any other editions of the English Scrip- 
tures than such as proceed from an accredited institu- 
tion — a proposition to which I most heartily assent. 

I am truly gratified at the favourable opinion you 
express of the missionary candidates from the New 
Brunswick Seminary. Would that their number were 
increased a hundred fold. It is happy for them and 
for the cause, that they are to be associated with such 
a coadjutor as Mr. Abeel ; for of all the heralds of the 
Cross who have hitherto been sent from our country 
to the heathen, no one has appeared to me to possess 
higher qualifications or a better spirit. 



LETTERS. 113 



No. 29. 
TO REV. DR. BRIGHAM. 

Sharon, Feb. 12th, 1835. 

I lament with you that the increased demand for 
the Bible, through the influence of the A. B. Society, 
should have induced private dealers to print, as well 
as to circulate, copies so extensively. Besides the evil 
you mention, there is evident danger that corruptions, 
and very gross ones too, will be introduced into the 
sacred text through the carelessness of these irre- 
sponsible printers. I have no desire to see the sacred 
Volume subjected to an imprimatur, nor its publication 
promoted, nor in any degree aflfected, by the civil au- 
thority ; but it is most devoutly to be wished that 
Christians of all denominations would unite in en- 
couraging and aiding the issues of that blessed Book 
from a single establishment, in the management of 
which all should be fairly represented. Will any one 
deny that the American Bible Society is precisely such 
an establishment? And is it not high time that publick 
attention should be particularly directed to this ob- 
ject ? 

I have just received a letter from a distinguished 
literary character, an avowed friend of the Bible, in 
which he deplores the attempt, now in successful pro- 
gress, to throw into circulation Mr. N. Webster's ver- 
sion ; an attempt which he deems inauspicious to the 
cause of religion and of sound literature. I have not 
yet seen a copy of the work, but I am informed the 
ostensible object of the author is so to modify the lan- 
guage of the Bible as to relieve the mawkish sensibili- 
ty of fastidious readers, and render it a " safe book" 
for the young ! while his real design is to make it a 



114 LETTERS. 

miversal school-book, and, in this way, the medium of 
giving currency to some peculiar opinions of his own, 
and of estabhshing his numerous innovations on the 
orthography of the Enghsh tongue. Of the truth of 
these suggestions I am not at present enabled to judge; 
nor will I arraign the motives, nor call in question the 
modesty, of the individual layman who, uninvited by 
the religious community, could engage single-handed 
in such an enterprize ; but believing, as I do, that if in- 
spiration can be predicated of any human effort since 
the apostolick age, it was enjoyed by the holy men to 
whose prayerful and indefatigable labours we are in- 
debted for our present translation, I can feel no desire 
for any other version. It might be well for some of 
our heads of colleges and editors of religious journals, 
to consider how far their adoption of Mr. Webster's 
philosophical novelties may have encouraged him in 
his bold undertaking. 



No. 30. 
TO COL. GEORGE P. MORRIS. 

Sharon, Feb. 21, 1835. 

You greatly overrate my a.biUty, but not my desire 
to aid you in your laudable efforts to maintain at once 
the purity of our language and the inviolability of the 
sacred Volume. Under my present circumstances, 
however, the service assigned to me would be attend- 
ed with some hazard. If English criticks are charged 
with publishing reviews of books they had never read, 
I should incur the guilt of reviewing one I had never 
seen. " Webster's Bible !" has not yet fallen under my 
observation, and the thought has at times occurred to 
me that it would be a species of sacrilege to even look 



LETTERS. 115 

into it. But I am led by your remarks to view the 
matter in a different, and, undoubtedly, more correct 
point of light. Accordingly, I have inquired for the 
book, and rejoice to learn that not a single copy is to 
be found in our village. One may be obtained, it is 
said, at Litchfield, and measures will therefore be 
taken to procure it speedily. Some time must, of 
course, be required to give it a fair examination, and 
if any reflections which the subject may suggest, shall, 
in my weak judgment, be worthy of your notice, they 
shall be communicated without unnecessary delay. 

This task ought, in good conscience, to have been 
executed by other and more appropriate hands. Un- 
fortunately, our reverend fathers of the Church, our 
heads of colleges, and editors of religious journals, 
have (not a few of them) in a luckless moment given 
their sanction to Mr. Webster's philosophical " whim- 
whams." Consequently, as lawyers would say, they 
are "estopped from averring any thing contrary" to 
his unhallowed mutilations of the sacred text, inti- 
mately connected, as they must be, with his manifold 
corruptions of the language. 



No. 31. 
TO REV. DR. MILLER. 

Sharon, June 3, 1835. 

You have been informed by my grandson that your 
most acceptable letter and the accompanying volume 
did not arrive in due course, but by a series of unto- 
ward occurrences were detained in New York. I did 
not, indeed, receive them until the eve of my departure 
to attend the anniversaries in that city. 

Presuming you may, by this time, have returned 



116 LETTERS. 

from the session of the General Assembly, I make no 
further delay in expressing my hearty thanks for a 
favour which I esteem as well for its intrinsick value, 
as for the courteous manner in which it is conferred. 

I am so much in the habit of admiring your writings, 
and of confiding in the correctness of your theological 
views, that when these come into conflict with my 
own preconceived opinions, the latter are necessarily 
put in great jeopardy. My earliest impressions were 
in favour of the Presbyterian organization, but were 
removed by a series of essays against the office of 
" Lay Elders," ascribed to the late Dr. Wilson, of 
Philadelphia, and published several years ago in a 
monthly periodical in this state. The essays certain- 
ly evinced considerable research, and an extensive 
acquaintance with the Fathers ; and although I do not 
now recollect the exact process by which the effect 
was produced, yet I settled down in the conviction 
that the Congregational was the primitive order of 
Church government, nor have I met with any thing 
to disturb that conviction, until taking up the volume 
which you have had the goodness to send me. I free- 
ly confess you have presented an array of proofs and 
authorities too powerful to be easily overcome ; so 
that I am almost disposed to sympathize with the 
Dutch magistrate in a neighbouring state, who felt no 
difficulty in entering up judgment on hearing one side 
only, but pronounced it " utterly impossible for any 
man to decide a cause after hearing lawyers upon both 
sides." But, on whichsoever side of this question the 
weight of evidence and of argument may lie, there is 
consolation in believing, as you charitably suggest, 
that on neither side can the errour be fundamental. 
The representative system is certainly the most beau- 



LETTERS. 117 

tiful in theory, most efficient, most in analogy with 
our civil constitutions ; and even the venerable author 
of " Ecclesiastical Polity" would have thought it best 
adapted to Republican governments. And yet the 
Congregational plan, although too democratick, and 
even anarchical in form, is nevertheless, in practice, 
scarcely less energetick than the other. 

By appointing a standing committee of the Church, 
of which the deacons, whose office is permanent, are, 
ex-officio, members, we secure nearly all the benefits 
of your church judicatory ; for although their acts and 
decisions require the sanction of the Church, it is rare- 
ly, if ever, withheld ; and our deacons, besides their 
appropriate duty, perform all, or nearly all, the minis- 
terial functions allotted to your ruling elders. 

Thus the difference is, perhaps, more in name than 
in substance ; at any rate, I ardently hope it will never 
be thought of sufficient magnitude to intercept our 
union in the Church militant, nor, as I humbly trust, in 
the Church triumphant. 



No. 32. 
TO COL. WARD. 

Sharon, Nov. 17, 1835. 

I thank you, my dear sir, for your kind and consola- 
tory letter. We have indeed sustained no common 
loss in the death of our beloved grandson. To great 
sweetness of disposition, highly polished manners, and 
intellectual attainments of the first order, he added a 
sincere and ardent piety, and the consecration of all 
his faculties to the service of God, and the best in- 
terests of his fellow-men. 

Having just entered the field of labour, and by the 



118 LETTERS. 

few sermons he was permitted to preach, impressed 
all who heard him with anticipations of his future use- 
fulness and distinction, he was suddenly arrested in 
his career, and from the Church on earth, was removed, 
we trust, to the Church of the First-born in Heaven. 

Whilst we bow in humble submission to this mys- 
terious dispensation, we feel not a little consoled by 
the sympathy of our kind friends. In the number of 
these, your name, my dear sir, holds a conspicuous 
place. Of the strength and constancy of your friend- 
ship, I have received numerous and unequivocal proofs, 
and I beg you to feel assured that it is reciprocated 
with all the warmth which a high sense of its value 
can not fail to inspire. 



No. 33. 
TO MRS. ELIZA EVERTSON. 

Sharon, May 9th, 1836. 

I should have informed you at an earlier day of the 
illness of my beloved wife, if my solicitude and unre- 
mitting attention to her case had not prevented. But 
I am compelled to write a letter of apology for my 
necessary absence from the celebration of our anni- 
versaries, and can not, therefore, forego the opportunity 
of making you acquainted with our condition. 

Your sister was attacked four weeks ago with what 
appeared a universal rheumatism. Her disorder pres- 
ently assumed the form of a bilious remitting fever, 
and continues to the present moment. A fortnight 
since, she was supposed by her physicians to be dy- 
ing ; but, God be praised, she revived, and we have 
hoped and despaired in frequent alternations ever 
since. The fever is somewhat abated, and we should 



LETTERS. 119 

indulge a little more hope were it not that her lungs 
are evidently aftected. Should there be sufficient 
vital power to throw off the morbid matter before 
ulcers are formed, there would be a rational prospect 
of her restoration.* On this point we are, of course, 
in a most painful state of uncertainty. Her strength 
is indeed perfect weakness ; but, blessed be God, she 
is in entire possession of her reason, and in the hap- 
piest frame of spirit. Her patience under great suf- 
fering, and her resignation to the will of our heaven- 
ly Father, are the admiration of all her attendants, as 
is, also, her grateful sense of every favour conferred 
upon her. So much like pure gold does she appear in 
this furnace of trial, that the young ladies of the place 
deem it a privilege to sit up with her during the night. 
In short, I may truly say, I have never seen a finer ex- 
hibition of the loveliness of the Christian character. It 
is twenty-nine years the present month, since either 
of us has experienced any serious indisposition. Shall 
we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not 
receive evil ? We have both reached the ordinary 
term of human life. If it is His will to separate us 
now, may I be enabled by His grace to acquiesce. I 
I know it must be the sorest of all trials, but I also 
know the separation, in all probability, can not be long. 



No. 34. 
TO MR. GEORGE W. STERLING. 

Sharon, Dec. 22d, 1836. 

I am sorry it is not in my power to answer your in- 
quiry as to the precise time when your fatherf entered 

* Mrs. Smith recovered from this sickness, but died the following 
year. — Ed. t The late Gen. Sterling, of Salisbury, Conn. 



120 LETTERS. 

on the study of law in my office. He came to this 
town, I think, in the autumn of 1787, a few weeks after 
he graduated at Yale College, and took charge of our 
academy, which had just been erected. He contmued 
at the head of the institution two or three years to very 
great and general acceptance. To his scholastick at- 
tainments he added unwearied assiduity, and a thorough 
but paternal discipline, and was thus enabled to carry 
forward his pupils, the number of whom was unusual- 
ly large, with a rapidity and success of which there 
are few examples. After resigning the charge of the 
academy, he began his preparatory studies with me, 
pursued them with his characteristical industry durmg 
the usual period, and was admitted to the bar in 1791 

or 1792. 

Of his professional life it is unnecessary for me to 
speak. Indeed, I was called into publick service so 
soon after his appearance at the bar, as to be denied 
the opportunity of personally observing much of his 
career. That he was a faithful and successful practi- 
tioner and advocate is unquestionable. 

I can not forbear to express the grateful sense I en- 
tertain of the services rendered by your father during 
the late war, both in the field and in the cabinet. The 
tour of duty which he performed, as commandant of 
a detachment at New London, was of special value at 
that interesting crisis. It is well known that militia, 
though highly efficient in a first onset, soon become 
discontented and restive in camp. By his peculiar tact 
in discipline, by keeping the men daily and actively 
employed in various evolutions, and by his minute and 
scrupulous attention to their comfort, he effectually 
secured their orderly and patient, and even cheerful 
submission to duty, and thus set an example to subse- 



LETTERS. 121 

quent detachments which was of incalculable benefit 
to the service. He was soon after appointed by the 
Legislature a member of the Council of Safety, then 
recently constituted ; and it is enough to say of him in 
this respect, that, composed as that body was of some 
of the first men in the state, there was no one of them 
in whose opinion I reposed more implicit confidence — 
a confidence which his practical acquaintance with the 
principal subjects of deliberation could not fail to in- 
spire. 

Allow me to add, the constancy with which your 
father adhered as a statesman to the principles and 
maxims of the Washington administration to the last, 
unmoved by the seductive offers of promotion, has of 
itself secured for his memory my most cordial respect; 
whilst the faith and piety which sustained and adorn- 
ed the latter years of his life, have introduced him, I 
trust, into the world of light and glory, among " the 
spirits of just med made perfect." 



No. 35. 
TO HON. CALVIN GODDARD. 

Sharon, April 18th, 1837. 

Nothing could have been more acceptable than your 
kind and truly excellent letter. I can not say it brought 
you to my recollection, for I believe a day has not 
passed during the twenty years of our separation, in 
which I have not thought of you, and always with re- 
spect and aflfection. 

The few precious names you mention — the "ran 
nautes in gurgite vasto" — together with your own, 
will never, while life remains, be erased from the 
tablets of my memory. It would afford me unspeak- 

F 



122 LETTERS. 

able pleasure to meet you all once more before we go 
hence, to mingle, as I trust, with the spirits of "just 
men made perfect." But the time you propose, the 
session of the Legislature, must be so near " the week 
of our anniversaries" in New York, where I am, ex- 
officio, bound to appear, if the impaired health of my 
beloved wife will permit, that it would be inconvenient, 
if not impracticable, for me to be with you. 

Allow me, then, to suggest the next Commencement 
at Yale College as an equally convenient time, and a 
much more appropriate occasion ; for, really, what 
sympathy can we have with the Legislature as now 
constituted? 

They can not but render the very atmosphere in 
which they convene ungenial to patriots and states- 
men of the " Washington school," while we can exert 
no salutary influence upon their deliberations. No, 
my dear friend, if we ever meet, we must expect our 
own mutual comfort as the only profitable result. The 
political evils under which we labour, I fear are in- 
corrigible. I am more and more convinced that the 
true temperament, or diathesis, as physicians would 
say, of our body politick, is sheer " loco foco" democra- 
cy, a real political insanity ; and that, accordingly, we 
must consider the reign of Federalism as but a lucid in- 
terval; and O how lucid, compared with the pitchy 
darkness with which we have been since enveloped ! 
Never shall I discard the appellation of Federalist, be- 
lieving, as I firmly do, that the principles involved in 
that name are those which alone, under God, can in- 
sure the prosperity of this nation. I feel, indeed, an 
honest pride in seeing the men who have so long mis- 
directed our affairs, resorting, now and then, to those 
very principles to e^^tricate them from the awkward 



LETTERS. 12S 

embarrassments to which theh' ignorance or their profli- 
gacy had subjected our national interests ; and I even 
forgive them for attempting to hide their mortification 
by abusing all who glory in the profession of those 
principles. God grant that they may be influenced 
to pay the involuntary homage still oftener ; and I am 
persuaded such will be the course of His Providence, 
if it is His merciful design to save us from ruin. But 
more of these and other things when we meet. 



No. 36. 
TO MR. FREDERICK H. WOLCOTT. 

June 1, 1837. 

I have received the intelligence of your father's* 
death with the most painful sensations — scarcely any 
event could have been more unexpected, or more sin- 
cerely deplored. Our acquaintance commenced at 
college, became more intimate as we entered the stage 
of action, and was early matured into a pure and dis- 
interested friendship, which has continued through all 
the vicissitudes of our eventful lives, increasing on my 
side as time and opportunity have developed the esti- 
mable qualities of his head and heart. Were it not for 
my infirm state of health, I should certainly endeavour 
to attend the funeral solemnities, and personally offer 
my condolence to my relative, the afflicted widow, and 
the fatherless children — an office which my recent and 
sore bereavement has but too well fitted me to per- 
form. 

I pray you, my dear sir, to accept for yourself and 
for them the assurance of my tenderest sympathy. 
We mourn, but not as those who have no hope. Let 

* The Hon. Frederick Wolcott, of Litckfield. 



124 LETTERS. 

US bless God that our departed friend has left such a 
bright example of private virtue and of publick useful- 
ness, such consoling evidence of his removal to the 
world of light and glory. 



No. 37. 
TO HON. SAMUEL INGHAM. 

Sharon, Aug. 23d, 1837. 

I duly received your letter requesting information 
relative to certain objections which are urged against 
the claim of this state upon the treasury of the United 
States. 

The claim is for moneys actually advanced by the 
state, in behalf of the general government, during the 
late war, for the necessary defence of the national 
property, and, I may add, the national honour, as well 
as for the safety of our citizens under the increased 
hazards to which this service exposed the whole of our 
maritime frontier. I do not understand the fact to be 
denied that the state absolutely paid the amount now 
claimed ; but it is said, among other things, we have 
paid too much : first, to the commissary-general for 
rations and vegetables ; and, secondly, to the quarter- 
master-general for services and military supplies. The 
obvious answer to such exceptions is, these were the 
proper officers to be employed in this service. They 
were men of high standing for their honesty and their 
patriotism. Their accounts were submitted to the 
scrutiny and decision of the comptroller, the highest 
fiscal officer in the state, and eminently distinguished 
for his intelligence and integrity. In pursuance of his 
adjudication, made under the solemnity of his official 
oath, the amount now claimed was advanced by the 



LETTERS. 125 

state more than twenty years ago, in money raised by 
a direct tax upon the hard-earned property of our citi- 
zens. Admit, now, what no one would willingly believe, 
that instances of imposition in the accounts really ex- 
isted ; who shall bear the loss ? Shall it be sustained 
by the state, that in good faith has paid the money for 
the benefit of the Union, or by the entire nation, in 
whose cause the expenditures were incurred ? Justice 
and honour unitedly answer, by the latter. And such, 
I am persuaded, will be the response of the accounting 
officers of the United States, on a fair and impartial 
view of the case. 

The circumstances under which the state was placed 
were peculiar. I believe it may be safely affirmed, that 
the war pressed more heavily and constantly upon 
Connecticut than upon any other state in the Union. 
From the month of May, A.D. 1813, when Commodore 
Decatur's squadron sought protection in our waters 
from the British fleet, we were closely invested by the 
latter, without one moment's intermission, to the term- 
ination of the war. For although the hostile ships 
were chiefly stationed before the harbour of New Lon- 
don to watch our squadron, and seize a favourable op- 
portunity to capture or destroy it, yet their smaller 
vessels and boats had an unobstructed sweep along the 
whole extent of our coast, occasionally burning vessels, 
and at all times keeping the inhabitants on the frontier 
in a state of consternation and alarm. Hence the 
necessity, in the opinion of the officers both of the gen- 
eral and state governments, not only of maintaining a 
respectable force at New London, but also of stationing 
guards at the most vulnerable points on the coast, and 
of having them well supplied with the munitions of war. 
As the general government was not then in a condition 



LETTERS. 



to carry these arrangements fully into effect, they were 
devolved in a great measure upon the state govern- 
ment, whose officers, civil and military, I must be per- 
mitted to say, engaged in the service with a zeal and 
alacrity which could proceed from no other principles 
than those of loyalty to the nation and fidelity to the 
state. The governour, accompanied by the adjutant- 
general and the quartermaster-general, passed through 
the several towns on the coast, from Stonington to 
Greenwich, for the purpose of selecting suitable points 
of defence ; of forming, as far as possible, volunteer 
companies from such citizens as were exempt by law 
from military duty, but who, nevertheless, were able 
to perform it on sudden emergencies until militia could 
be brought to their aid, and of placing within their 
reach mounted field-pieces and the requisite ammuni- 
tion. These measures of precaution seemed to give 
the inhabitants a good degree of confidence in their 
ability to do something for their own defence, and pre- 
vented those frequent calls upon the executive for large 
draughts of militia, with which he had been so much 
assailed. The salutary influence of these measures was 
afterwards more especially visible at the bombardment 
of Stonington. When the ships of the enemy appeared 
before that place, neither militia nor regular troops 
were there stationed. But cannon had been mounted, 
and ammunition provided, and they were used on that 
occasion by a mere handful of volunteers, in an action 
which, for brilliancy and effect, was scarcely surpassed 
by any achievement on land during the whole course 
of the war. Other instances might be mentioned to 
show, satisfactorily, I trust, that the rule to which you 
allude, adopted by a former secretary of war, " not to 
allow any charges for transporting military stores hy 



X E T T E R 3. 127 

way df prepdfatidh to places where no militia were 
stationed," ought to have no application to the present 
case. Indeed, candour obliges me to say, in justifica- 
tion of preparatory movements, that if the then secre- 
tary of war had authorized, conformably to the earnest 
solicitation of the state executive, a small guard in Fort 
Fenwick, at the mouth of Connecticut River, merely to 
sound an alarm at the approach of the enemy, the 
memorable destruction of all the vessels in the harbour 
of Pettipaug on the night of the 8ih of April, 1814, would 
in all probability hav^e been prevented. In truth, the 
constant presence of the hostile ships in our waters, 
with their disposition and capacity for mischief to al- 
most any extent, rendered a system of preventive and 
precautionary measures absolutely indispensable. 

Immediately on the receipt of your communication, 
I addressed a letter to Colonel James Ward, the com- 
missary-general of the state, enclosing a copy of such 
of your inquiries as relate more especially to his depart- 
ment. His answers to queries, numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 
are herewith forwarded, and I hope will be deemed 
satisfactory. The colonel displayed throughout his 
whole period of service all the estimable qualities which 
ought to characterize such a functionary — integrity, 
activity, economy, and a truly accommodating spirit. 
I fully concur with him in believing that it would have 
been extremely difficult, if not impracticable, to retain 
the militia in service under any course of treatment, as 
to their diet, less indulgent than the one which was 
actually pursued. 

With respect to the quartermaster-general's depart- 
ment, we have to lament that both of the individuals. 
Colonel Mix and Colonel Scarborough, who successively 
sustained the office during that period, have both de- 



l28 LETTERS. 

ceased. Mr. Colt, who then filled the office of comp- 
troller, has, as I am informed, followed them to the 
grave. At this late day, and under these circum- 
stances, it is not to be expected, nor, as I humbly con- 
ceive, ought it to be required, that the evidence on 
which the accounts were adjusted, consisting, much of 
it, no doubt, of oral testimony, should now be produced 
for re-examination. At the time when Colonel Mix's 
service commenced, it is my impression that, at a meet- 
ing of the council after the declaration of war, June, 
1812, Governour Griswold was advised by that body to 
direct the mounting of cannon and other preparations 
for defence. In October, 1812, on the demise of Gov- 
ernour Griswold, the lieutenant-governour was particu- 
larly requested by a resolution of the Legislature then 
in session, to issue orders for mounting field-pieces at 
New London on the earnest application of the citizens 
of that town. The order was forthwith issued to Col- 
onel Mix accordingly. A copy of both the resolution 
and the order shall be forwarded, if you desire it. 

Your 6th and 7th inquiries relate to the objections 
which were made by the auditor to the allowance of 
certain charges in the quartermaster-general's account, 
on the ground that they are not expressly stated to be 
for the publick service, &c. Is not the " presumption 
violent" that the state, through her comptroller, would 
not have charged the United States with the articles 
if they had never been applied to publick use ? I should 
suppose the comity and the confidence which ought to 
subsist between the Federal head and its members, 
must utterly preclude even a suspicion to the contrary. 
Nor can there be a rational doubt that the specified 
articles were proved to the comptroller, by evidence 
then existing, to be both proper and necessary. 



LETTERS. 129 

The 8th mquhy embraces the objection that the 
amount therein stated " was incurred by way of gen- 
eral prepai'ation." The remarks ah^eady offered on 
this point must suffice for a reply. 

The 9th inquiry relates to the compensation paid to 
the quartermaster-general for his services (amounting 
to $1169 63), extending through a period of more than 
two years. There can be no question in the mind of 
any one acquainted with Colonel Mix, that he honestly 
rendered the service and incurred the expense he has 
charged ; and it is equally evident that the services 
and the expenditures could be for no other than national 
purposes. Does the compensation appear extravagant 
when compared with like services performed by officers 
of the general government ? 

The 10th inquiry refers to the charge of munitions 
of war furnished by the state. The objections are, 
that the cost of the articles is unsupported by proof, as 
well as their application to publick use. If bills of 
parcels are now demanded, I know not where they are 
to be found. Of the application of these munitions, I 
have probably said enough already. I know of no use 
to which they were or could be applied, but to the na- 
tional service. It is evident to my mind that the free 
distribution of them along the maritime frontier, in the 
manner I have mentioned, was the means, under Provi- 
dence, of not only saving many lives, but property also 
to an incalculable amount, and prevented the expense 
of militia services far exceeding the sum claimed as the 
cost of the articles. At the session of the Legislature 
in October, 1814, the remainder of the powder was 
directed to be sold, and the avails placed to the credit 
of the quartermaster-general's department, with the 
view of obtaining powder of a superiour quality. The 

F 2 



1S6 LETTERS. 

proceeds of sale, I perceive, are credited to the United 
States, inasmuch, probably, as no new purchase was 
made. Of this, however, I am not positively informed. 
A copy of the resolution shall be sent, if required. 

The 11th inquiry regards the receipt rolls. I pos- 
sess no documents on the subjects, nor do I really see 
much occasion for them. There surely can be no mis- 
take as to the amount. Mr. Perkins, the district pay- 
master, it appears, has paid a part, which stands credit- 
ed on the comptroller's books. The balance, of course, 
Unless he can produce evidence of payment, must be 
justly due from the United States. The fact stated by 
the auditor, that " Mr. Perkins was in funds," will not 
be urged as an extinguishment of the debt. 

Thus, sir, I have endeavoured briefly, but as fully as 
my memory and the few documents in my hands will 
allow, to reply to the various matters contained in 
your letters. Suffer me, in conclusion, to express my 
firm belief that the claim of Connecticut, growing as it 
does almost exclusively out of a manly and patriotick 
defence of the national property, will ultimately receive 
from the general government that high regard which a 
sense of honour as well as of justice can not fail to in- 
spire. 



No. 38. 
TO HON. SAMUEL INGHAM. 

Sharon, 25th Nov., 1837. 

I have attentively read the minute and interesting 
statement of Charles L. Porter, Esq.,- relative to that 
portion of the claim of this state against the United 
States which is marked No. 5, and I can not but ex- 
press my grateful sense of the Divine goodness that, 



LETTERS. 131 

while all the publick officers more immediately con- 
versant with the subject are removed by death, the life 
of this respectable witness has been preserved to fur- 
nish explanations at once so circumstantial and satis- 
factory ! That his representation is entitled to implicit 
credit, I have not a doubt, as in many particulars it ac- 
cords perfectly with my own recollection. In a former 
communication, I stated the arrangements which were 
made for the defence of the national squadron and of 
our maritime frontier. It was undoubtedly in pur- 
suance of those arrangements that the arms and muni- 
tions charged in the amount were distributed and ex- 
pended. The first issues of arms and military supplies 
for New London were made under my personal no- 
tice ; and the subsequent distributions along the coast 
by the quartermaster-general were duly authorized. 
There was certainly no occasion or exigency other 
than for the national service, in which those expendi- 
tures and losses could have been incurred. 



No. 39. 
TO A FRIEND. 

Jan. 26, 1838. 

Our country is in a wretchedly disordered condition, 
and will a.lways be so whenever we depart from the sys- 
tem of policy adopted by the first administration of the 
government. It is really laughable as well as sorrow- 
ful, to see upstart statesmen throw themselves and the 
car of state oflT from the Federal track, as plain and 
practicable as a rail-road, to flounce and flounder in a 
swamp, and, after wallowing in the mud till their ener- 
gies are nearly exhausted, return besmeared and chpp- 
fallen to the strait course they had left. And all this 



132 LETTERS. 

repeated, after short intervals, over and over again. 
If these disastrous somersets could be confined to their 
authors, w^ithout involving the country in ruin, they 
would be less deplorable. But it does seem that all the 
lessons of wisdom and experience are wholly lost upon 
these wiseacres. I rejoice to perceive that the people 
are at length forming a just estimate of their incom- 
petency. 



No. 40. 
TO DR. M. L. NORTH. 



* 



Sharon, Feb. 7th, 1838. 
* * * 



Are you quite sure, my dear friend, that the condi- 
tion of the slaves at the South is improved ? Do you 
not remember that, cotemporaneous with the first meas- 
ures of the abolitionists, laws were passed by the slave- 
holding states, prohibiting, under severe penalties, the 
instruction of their slaves in writing and reading ; and 
that, in execution of these laws, even religious instruc- 
tion was withheld by the masters ? and do you mean 
to say that these laws are repealed, and that the slaves 
are restored to their former privileges in these re- 
spects ? I suspect there must be some errour in the in- 
formation you have received in relation to this painful 
subject. But what do Dr. H. and his associates pro- 
pose to do ? Several years have passed away already 
since immediate abolition was to be accomplished. The 
term "immediate," it seems, has acquired a very en- 
larged signification— implying the present moment, or 
any future day, however remote. Why should it be 
used at all in this case, when it is most obvious that 
nothing can be effectually done by the general gov- 



LETTERS. 133 

ernment consistently with their limited powers, and 
with publick justice and the publick peace, until the 
long, and tedious, and uncertain process of amending 
the national Constitution has been successfully per- 
formed? The amendment required is to invest Con- 
gress with the authority exercised by the British Par- 
liament, to remunerate the master and liberate the 
slave. I, for one, would most cheerfully pay my full 
proportion for that object, even if a tax were necessa- 
ry. But the national domains are abundantly ade- 
quate, and could not be applied to a better purpose, 
for slavery is a national evil, and its peaceful removal 
must be effected by a combined national sacrifice. I 
verily believe some such measure might have been ul- 
timately adopted, and, in the mean time, colonization 
have contributed much to its final accomplishment, 
had not the intemperate conduct of Garrison and his 
abettors interposed what may prove a fatal obstacle. 
I repeat the question, what measures do they propose ? 
Would they shed fraternal blood in a civil w^ar ; or 
would they dissolve the Union at once ? The budget 
of their committee of ways and means, I think, can 
contain no other alternatives. Success in either case 
would be at once fatal to the slaves and ruinous to our 
whole country. No, my dear doctor, the immediate ab- 
olitionists have thus far succeeded only in postponing 
emancipation to a distant futurity, and in extending 
the operation of Lynch laws and the government of 
mobs, to the lasting injury and dishonour of the nation. 
Be assured, nothing can rightfully and effectually be 
done in the premises by Northern men, but through the 
instrumentality of the national government, duly em- 
powered for that end. Every attempt on our part to 
intermeddle with the domestick concerns of individual 



i^4 



LETTERS. 



states at the South, by insisting on the manumission 
of their slaves, would be as officious in character, and 
as impotent in effect, as a like attempt to emancipate 
the serfs of Russia. 



No. 41. 
TO THE REV. JOSEPH HARVEY. 

Sharon, March 16th, 1838. 

I have given Dr. Day's v^^ork on the Will a hasty 
perusal, and, with " a few grains of allowance," I con- 
cur in the commendation you bestow upon it. What- 
ever Edwards may have left undone in respect to this 
highly interesting department of theology, is abundant- 
ly supplied by the present work. But I do exceed- 
ingly regret the very imperfect manner in which he 
has stated the conflicting opinions of the Old and New 
Schools on the subject of human ability. It is really 
astonishing that he should declare that " one party be- 
lieve man has not full power to repent, and the other 
that he has some power," and then deliberately ask, 
"Is there any contradiction in this ?" No, surely, for 
there is really no diflference in the two propositions ; 
nor does either of them express the belief of either of 
the parties. And yet the Christian world must under- 
stand, from his subsequent remarks, that " the notes of 
discord and alarm are sounded from one end of the 
land to the other" (respecting Taylorism) on no better 
foundation than this idle distinction. Is this a fair 
statement of the controversy ? True enough, as you 
intimate., the book furnishes a complete refutation of 
the doctrines taught in the theological department, if 
the application were once fairly made. Indeed, the 
lucid arrangement of Scripture authorities in the last 



LETTERS. 13^ 

section, and the happy manner in which apparent con- 
trarieties in the testimony of Scripture are reconciled, 
can not but carry conviction to every honest mind, not 
excepting the writer himself, if he has adopted either 
of the propositions which he ascribes to the belligerent 
parties. 



No. 42. 
TO A FRIEND. 

Sharon, Sept. 5, 1838. 

The article in relation to the Mississippi Valley 
contains an ingenious and probable hypothesis, ac- 
companied with a highly-finished picture of that mar- 
vellous region. If I remember rightly, Volney, in his 
" View of the Soil and Climate of the United States," 
also expresses an opinion that the valley was once 
covered with water ; but what limits he assigned to 
the internal sea, with the cause and manner of its 
escape, my memory does not enable me to say. It 
is more than thirty years since I have seen tha.t work, 
but an incident is brought to my recollection which 
I will take the liberty to mention. Volney, soon af- 
ter its first appearance, sent a copy in the original 
French to Congress, and a like copy to the presi- 
dent (Jefferson). The books arrived during the re- 
cess. On my return to Congress the following ses- 
sion, I perceived the volume in the library, and, with 
the consent of the librarian, took it to my lodgings. 
In his chapter on the dry lakes, to which the author 
has given many localities in our country, he notices 
the celebrated passage of the Potomac and Shenan- 
doah through the Blue Ridge, considering it an avul- 
sion produced by the draining of a vast lake. In a 



136 LETTERS. 

subjoined note he observes, in substance, that " a beau- 
tiful description of this remarkable passage is found in 
Mr. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, but that gentleman 
forgot to give credit for it to a French engineer (nam- 
ing him), w^ho wrote it on the spot." Shortly after- 
wards I waited on the president, and in the course of 
conversation alluded to Volney's book, and, rather 
mischievously, asked his opinion of the work. He re- 
plied, and I thought blushed deeply, that the author 
had sent him a copy, but he had not yet found suffi- 
cient leisure to take it up. The work was afterwards 
translated into our language by Brown, of Philadel- 
phia, who, being a particular friend of Mr. J., sup- 
pressed the unlucky note, which, it is believed, has not 
yet appeared in an English dress ; nor do I desire to 
give it publicity, although it is strongly characteristic 
of the individual named.* But, enchanting as your 
pen has rendered the Mississippi Valley, I should feel 
no disposition to exchange my present residence for 
any portion of it, even if my life were to be protracted 
to the age of an antediluvian. Not that my location 
is so very eligible ; but I entertain a suspicion that the 
soil, which was once the bottom of a watery element, 
is a cover, and a thin one too, of a lake of fire. That 
the centre of the earth, indeed, is a vast magazine of 
fire, is proved to my satisfaction by the increased tem- 
perature discoverable in deep perforations. Volcanoes 
are probably the issues from this magazine ; and as 
these are at times closed, and others opened in their 
stead, I should surmise that in the event of a vacancy 
in these terrible agents, the valley is as fair a candi- 
date for that office as could well be selected. 

* We may admire Govenior Smith's delicacy, but there seems to be 
no reason for withholding this anecdote from publication. — Ed. 



LETTERS. 137 



No. 43. 



Sharon, Sept. 21st, 1838. 

I greatly rejoice that your health is in a course of 
improvement from the use of the waters ; accordingly, 
I can not but commend your resolution to sit down with 
your family near the American " pool of Bethesda." 
May your health be perfectly restored, and your use- 
fulness long continued a rich blessing to your family, 
to the Church, and to " the great multitude of impotent 
folk" who resort to those health-giving fountains, and 
not only to the impotent, but also to the pleasure- 
loving throng, whose least concern is a just regard to 
their immortal interests ! It is really an enchanting 
spot. I saw it first in the year 1790, when it was a 
forest — a single house in the woods, small and uncom- 
fortable, filled with inmates of woe-begone counte- 
nances waiting the operation of the waters — the Rock 
Spring the only fountain in use. I saw it the second 
time a year ago, a compact, well-built, and delightful 
village, retaining not one feature of its original aspect. 
My stay was but momentary, so that I was not allowed 
even to look at the several springs. I, however, beheld 
enough in the place to astonish me at the contrast be- 
tween its present and former condition. 

While I wait in humble hope for the blest hour of 
meeting my beloved wife, and the bright throng who 
" through faith and patience have inherited the promis- 
es," I am at the same time desirous of filling up the res- 
idue of life with whatever of duty my heavenly Father 
shall enable me to perform. " Work while the day 
lasts," says the blessed Saviour ; " the night cometh, in 

* Then lately removed, or about to remove, to Saratoga. 



1!^8 LETTERS. 

which no man can work ;" and He has mercifully con- 
nected our happiness with employment; for, really, I 
can hardly conceive of a more irksome condition than 
a state of total inactivity. 



No. 44. 
TO A FRIEND. 

Sharon, Nov. 10th, 1838. 

When your truly acceptable letter of September the 
18th arrived, I was labouring under a greater degree 
of ill health than I have experienced for many years. 
A kind Providence has graciously interposed for my 
recovery, and I cheerfully embrace a few moments to 
express my hearty thanks for the pleasure your letter 
afid lucubration have afforded me. Such a savoury 
dish o^ genuine Federalism I have scarcely ever before 
enjoyed, and the relish is not a little heightened by the 
daily abuse and profanation of a term which involves 
the only principles upon which either the national or 
state governments can ever be successfully adminis- 
tered. I regret the editors curtailed your remarks in 
any degree ; at the same time, they are to be com- 
mended for allowing you to expose so freely the dis- 
astrous policy of Jefferson in his gun-boat project. If 
you have never learned the secret cause of his con- 
structing gun-boats, I will tell you. One morning, 
while the late Goverhour Griswold and myself were in 
Congress, we took a walk to the Navy-yard, where 
we observed a number of men employed in fishing up 
and dragging out timber from the eastern branch of 
the Potomac. We inquired the cause of such a strj^nge 
procedure, and were told the timber was the live oak 
which had been procured for the seventy-fours ordered 



iifc^'ii'iEit^. 139 

to be built during John Adams's administration. Jef- 
ferson, it seems, had directed the timber to be sunk 
{m fresh water, observe), to season it. But, as might 
be expected, it had begun to rot, and accordingly was 
taken out — ^not, however, until decomposition had pro- 
ceeded so far as to render it altogether unfit for sev- 
enty-fours. The timber was afterwards converted — 
more or less of it — into gun-boats, as well to conceal 
the ignorance of the chief magistrate, as to gratify his 
hostility to an efficient navy. When we reflect upon 
the loss and the distress incurred by this nation under 
Democratick sway, the desolation which has invariably 
attended every departure from the system devised by 
the oracular wisdom of Washington and Hamilton, it 
seems little short of a miracle that our ruin has not 
been absolute and irrecoverable. I say oracular, for 
if prescience can be attributed to any of our race, it 
was possessed by those patriots, when, with such clair- 
voyance, they discerned both the latent springs of na- 
tional prosperity, and the causes which might retard 
or destroy it. Let the crusade against the judiciary, 
the navy, and all foreign commerce — let embargoes 
and non-intercourse — let foreign war and Indian wars, 
without preparation for either — and last, not least, let 
the savage attacks upon the currency, the life-blood 
of the body politick, attest how ineffectual are all the 
barriers which the wit and wisdom of man can devise 
against the ferocious spirit of our democracy. 



140 



LETTERS. 



No. 45. 
TO REV. DR. BRIGHAM. 

Sharon, Feb. 21st, 1839. 

I reciprocate from the heart your condolence on the 
demise of our vice-presidents, Bolton and Van Rensse- 
laer. With Mr. Bolton my acquaintance, though lim- 
ited, was sufficient to inspire me whh much respect 
for his character. My knowledge of Gen. Van Rens- 
selaer commenced in the memorable month of Octo- 
ber, 1777, when his mother fled with him into our 
vicinity, at the approach of Burgoyne's army from the 
North. We were both then about twelve years of 
age, and in a course of preparation for college. He 
went to Harvard in 1778, and I to Yale in 1779. 
From that period to his death he has been an unceas- 
ing object of my regard and veneration. Besides the 
consideration due to his well-cultivated mind, I loved 
him for his excellence in all the social relations, for 
his unaffected piety, his enlarged benevolence, the dig- 
nified simplicity of his manners, and for that elevated 
and rectilinear course in his publick hfe for which the 
real disciples of Washington have ever been distin- 
guished. In short (if it can be said of any man), he 
was " pure in heart ;" and, I doubt not, he is now par- 
ticipating in the blessedness which is assured to all 
such by the express promise of the Redeemer. 



No. 46. 
TO JUDGE DAGGETT. 

Sharon, Nov. 11th, 1839. 

As my grandson contemplates a visit to your city, 
I can not forego so favourable an opportunity of ten- 



LETTERS. 141 

dering you my cordial salutations, and the assurance 
of the deep interest I continue to feel in all that con- 
cerns you. The demise of your accomplished and be- 
loved daughter, so soon after the death of her excellent 
mother, must have produced an accumulation of suffer- 
ing vt^hich nothing but divine grace could have enabled 
you to sustain. I read the obituary notice of Mrs. 
Dwight with sensations such as a long and cherished 
acquaintance, and a high estimate of her worth, could 
not fail to awaken. Thus, my friend, our dearest con- 
nexions are preceding us to the society of the bright 
intelligences above, leaving us "to follow them who 
through faith and patience have inherited the prom- 
ises." To be diligent in this hallowed pursuit is not 
less our happiness than our duty. 

Not long since I was equally surprised and delighted 
by an interview, brief though it was, with our class- 
mate Fowler. Being a passenger in the post-coach, 
he was too much on the wing to pass many minutes. 
If you also saw him during his visit to his native state, 
you must have admired his green old age (he can not 
be short of fourscore), his erect and vigorous frame, 
with unbleached locks, on a journey of one thousand 
miles from home, hastening back to the people of his 
charge, to whom I dare say he reads the '^incompara- 
ble Liiurgxf' in the same tone and spirit with which he 
edified the little West Haven congregation on Sundays 
during nearly the whole of his collegiate career. 

I sympathize with you on the result of the New York 
city election. It is to be feared the whole state has 
gone over to the insane and disastrous policy of the 
national administration. Would time permit, I might 
put forth a series of sombre speculations on our situa- 
tion and prospects. But, after all, where is the use of 



142 LETTERS. 

croaking? Let us rather bless God for the measure 
of prosperity we have enjoyed, notwithstanding many 
grievous interruptions, and humbly rely on His mercy 
to avert the evils we deprecate. 

I rejoice to perceive from newspaper report, that, 
greatly multiplied as colleges are in almost all the 
states, our Alma Mater has nevertheless a goodly in- 
crease of academical students. May I not hope for 
the usual expression of your kindness in furnishing me 
with the annual catalogue ? 



No. 47. 
TO A FRIEND. 

28th Jan., 1840. 

I have received a copy of Dr. Bethune's address, de- 
livered at the Orphan Asylum, which, from the direc- 
tion and the initials, I conclude came from your kind 
hand, and is an additional claim upon m.y gratitude for 
the numerous instances of your courtesy to me as a 
relative and friend. Feeling a deep interest in your 
prosperity, I lately read with most painful emotion a 
notice of your daughter's death. The intelligence af- 
fected the whole of our little family very sensibly, and 
brought afresh to our recollection the pleasure we 
derived from the transient visit she once made to our 
retreat. Transient indeed has been her visit to this 
fleeting world of ours, and yet sufficiently long to pre- 
pare for a brighter and better state of existence. In- 
deed, the utmost length of human life is but " a span ;" 
and in the vastness of eternity, our continuance here, 
whether for ten years or a century, will be compara- 
tively of no importance other than as a season of pro- 
bation. Still, ties are here formed which can not be 



LETTERS. 143 

sundered without the keenest anguish ; and I envy not 
the man who can maintain at such times a stoical in- 
difference. A great change, indeed, must be wrought 
in the temperament of such a being before he could be 
happy even in heaven. 

I know that you and Mrs. can not but suffer in- 
tensely on this occasion, and I offer you both, with 
your surviving children, my heartfelt condolence, with 
the assurance of my earnest prayer that we may all 
meet at last in that world of light and joy where friends 
never part. 

The loss of the steamer Lexington, with the awful 
circumstances accompanying it, is a most heart-rend- 
ing occurrence. I have of late been led to doubt 
whether, on the whole, the application of steam to navi- 
gation has been a blessing to this country. Consider 
the prodigious waste of human life ; the millions vested 
in this frail species of property ; the millions required 
to keep the system in motion ; the millions in money 
and time (and time is money) expended in useless 
voyages and journeys by individuals who, but for this 
attraction, would be at home, adding by their industry 
to their own comfort and the national wealth. What 
can we place on the credit side of the ledger, to balance 
this overwhelming account ? Do you bel'eve that a 
square yard of canvass would now be seen on the 
ocean, if an equal proportion of loss and disaster had 
attended navigation in vessels propelled by wind ? If 
you do, it must be because you are (and I admit you 
are) more shrewd than I am in the calculation of profit 
and loss. 

We have winter in earnest. Nothing like it since 
the memorable winter of 1779-80, when, at the age of 
fourteen, I travelled half the distance from the college 



144 LETTERS. 

at New Haven on snow shoes, in company with my 
venerable father, who came after me with a sleigh and 
horses, but which we were obliged to leave midway 
until the close of the season ; and when, a fact of much 
more importance, the sufferings of our Revolutionary 
army were so severe, and were endured with such in- 
credible patience ! 

In many parts of the country the roads are now, and 
have been wholly obstructed by the depth of snow 
since the first storm, 14th, I5th, and 16th of December 
last. We had then no mail for nearly a week ; and, 
what I much regret, our friend General Morris's ele- 
gant miscellany failed for two weeks, particularly the 
plate number, which has not yet arrived. 



No. 48. 
TO MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY. 

Sharon, 16th July, 1840. 

Through the kindness of the Rev. Mr. Ely, we have 
received the " Tribute"* you have had the goodness to 



To the memory of the Rev. Gilbert Livingston Smith, who died a few 
weeks after leaving the Theological Seminary at Princeton, in the 
autumn of 1835. 

'* Blest are the pure in heart." So saith the voice 
That can not err. And thou didst bear within 
That hallowed blessing as a pearl of price, 
Even from thine early years. God's spirit made 
Thy breast its casket. Beautified with all 
The world might covet, thou didst meekly choose 
The cross of Christ, and to his righteous will 
Conform thine own. 

How wouldst thou bow to teach 
The ignorant and poor, casting aside 



LETTERS^ 145 

render to the memory of my greatly-beloved and la- 
mented grandson. In the absence of the father on a 
distant journey, I can not refrain from expressing the 
deep and grateful sense we all entertain (and I am sure 
he will unite in the same sentiment) of the truly appro- 
priate and not less beautiful manner in which this most 
acceptable service has been performed. Never, prob- 
ably, was the phrase " mourning mother" more fitly 
applied ; for, although she bowed with Christian sub- 
mission to the chastening rod of her heavenly Father, 
still such was the uncommon loveliness of the son, and 
so intense are her maternal feeHngs, that to this day 
she is " affected to tears" even at the mention of his 
name. Nothing could have proved more soothing to 
her tender spirit, nor more consolatory to us all, than 
the oil you have thus kindly poured into our wounded 
hearts. 

The pride of learning, to array thyself 
In sweet humility, and choose his path 
Who sought and saved the lost. 

But the long toib 
And fleeting pleasures of a life mature 
Were not for thee. The sudden sickness came — 
Fiery and bitter — but thy soul had peace, 
And calmly waited to be offered up 
To Him who gave it. 

Mourning mother, say, 
Who o'er his couch so sleeplessly didst watch 
The early fading of thy beautiful. 
Is it not better that the pure in heart 
Should see their God, ere weary years have left 
Their earth-stain on the spirit? 

Mother, say, 
Is it not glorious that the faith he loved 
|?-l*t;ald have its perfect work, ajid change to joy 
Unspfeakable, elJemal? 

G 



146 LETTERS. 



No. 49. 



TO REV. JOSEPH ALDEN, D.D. 

Sharon, 13th Oct., 1840. 

I received a few days since the copy of your Quinc- 
tilian, which you had the goodness to forward by Mrs. 
Livingston, a favour for which I desire you to accept 
my hearty thanks, as well as for the honour conferred 
on me by its dedication. 

It is a judicious and choice selection, edited in a 
handsome style, and can not, therefore, fail as a class- 
book to be highly acceptable to our colleges, and, in- 
deed, to our literary institutions generally. 

My Latin reading has been chiefly confined for 
many years to writers posterior to the Augustan age. 
I shall now endeavour to renew my acquaintance with 
Quinctilian. I can never forget my early and deep 
emotion at the eloquence of his grief on the loss of his 
son, nor my sore regret that the hopes and consola- 
tions of the Gospel were unknown alike to the dying 
boy and his afflicted father. This interesting narra- 
tive, I perceive, is with evidently good taste contained 
in the present selection, thus forming a beautiful epi- 
sode to the main subject of the work. I am a sincere 
admirer of the Latin language; and who does not ad- 
mire its simple yet forcible structure — the literature it 
imbodies — its duration of nearly one thousand years as 
a vernacular tongue, without the change of scarcely a 
letter in its orthography — and its continuance thence- 
forward to the present hour, the accredited medium of 
intercourse between the learned of all nations ? Hap- 
py would it be, if our countrymen possessed more of 
that Roman spirit which held the preservation of the 
language unchanged a civick virtue ! How soon would 



LETTERS. 147 

the Jive discrepant dictionaries of Dr. Noah Webster be 
utterly abandoned, and our literati, and especially our 
heads of colleges, firmly united with our English breth- 
ren in maintaining with Roman constancy the integri- 
ty of our invaluable language, and in transmitting it to 
distant posterity untarnished with the foul touch of 
pseudo-reformers ! It is admitted by all, even by 
Webster, that the language reached maturity in the 
reigns of Queen Anne and George the First. The 
" membra disjecta," however, required a skilful organ- 
ization. This was happily accomplished by the " vi- 
ginti annorum lucubrationibus" of Johnson, to the entire 
acceptation, and with the merited applause of the whole 
English world. Can any good reason be assigned 
why its orthography, so well settled, and so essential 
to its identity, should be changed or varied in any de- 
gree whatever ? Is there a single pretext of the kind, 
which, if fully carried out and applied to all parallel 
cases, would not obscure the sense, multiply ambigui- 
ties, confound etymologies, and, in short, disturb the 
whole texture of the language, thus rendering our fine 
classick models unintelligible to a succeeding genera- 
tion, and the language itself unattainable by foreign- 
ers ? As for Webster, he is governed by no rules. 
His numerous alterations are either thrown out at ran- 
dom, or on grounds so frivolous as would lead one to 
suppose him sporting with the credulity of his readers ; 
and hence no two of his dictionaries are alike. Indeed, 
his wretched experiments upon his mother-tongue are 
subjects both of reprobation and ridicule with the dis- 
interested and intelligent on either side of the Atlan- 
tick. One thing is certain, our father-land will take no 
lessons in this department from us ; nor can it be ra- 
tionally expected or desired. Our British brethren 



148: LETTER S. 

will persevere in their rectilinear course, preserving 
with sleepless vigilance the purity of a language in 
which are garnered the richest and noblest products 
of the human mind. Meanwhile, we Anglo-Ameri- 
cans, unless we retrace our steps (of which I rejoice 
to perceive many favourable indications), must put up 
with a dialect of our own, as far removed from the 
genuine English standard as the lingua Franca of 
Barbary from the pure Italian. 

This subject is intimately connected with missiona- 
ry operations, inasmuch as there is an increasing de- 
sire to acquire the English language at nearly all our 
foreign stations. Neither of Webster's dictionaries 
will enable a foreigner to read the English Bible or 
our most celebrated authors, for the variance of a let- 
ter between the text and the Lexicon, you are sensi- 
ble, is fatal to the progress of the learner until aid can 
be derived from some other quarter. In Ceylon the 
missionaries teach the language in its purity, as I was 
happy to discover by a printed report, which one of 
them sent to me, of the Jaffna Tract Society for the 
year 1837. At that station there were then 1600 chil- 
dren and youth under a course of instruction in the 
English language, more than 1000 of whom were read- 
ing portions of our inimitable version of the sacred vol- 
ume in the form of tracts, a privilege, I grieve to say, 
denied to the generality of our common schools in 
America ! 



LETTERS. 149 



No. 50. 
TO HON. SAMUEL T. ARMSTRONG. 

Sharon, 22d March, 1841. 

I thank you for the copy you had the goodness to 
send me of your communication to the Senate of Mas- 
sachusetts, and its favourable reception by that hon- 
ourable body. The transaction is highly creditable to 
both parties, and the thanks of every member of the 
American Board are due to you, for the very hand- 
some manner in which you have presented a truly ap- 
propriate testimonial of our gratitude for the " patro- 
nizing act" of your enlightened and munificent Com- 
monv^realth. Your summary of the changes w^rought 
in the Sandwich Islands, by the blessing of Heaven 
upon the labours of our missionaries, may well aston- 
ish the world, and awaken every where increased zeal 
and energy in the prosecution of an enterprise so fruit- 
ful of glory to God and beneficence to men. 

Will you allow me, my dear sir, to trouble you with 
a few remarks on a much less pleasing theme? Ban- 
croft's History of the United States has recently, and 
for the first time, fallen under my observation. It is 
not my design to dwell on the author's laboured imita- 
tion of Gibbon, both in his inflated style, and in the im- 
pious irony by which the poison of infidelity is infused 
into the youthful mind more surely than by arguments 
or by any other means. My object is simply to ex- 
press my regret, not to say disgust, at the author's un- 
just manner of exhibiting individual character. The 
faithful historian, in assuming to act as a judge of the 
conduct of individuals and nations, feels the high obli- 
gation resting upon him to hold the scales of justice 



150 LETTERS. 

with an even hand. That Bancroft has no claim to 
the attribute of judicial impartiality, is fully evinced by 
his treatment of the Mathers, father and son, particu- 
larly the latter. Who was Cotton Mather ? Is there 
the slightest allusion to his occupation and general de- 
portment, as is customary when one is introduced as 
an agent in the transactions about to be recorded 1 Or 
was the author fearful lest even the faintest intimation 
of his general character might diminish the mass of ob- 
loquy prepared to overwhelm him? Let the candid 
reader decide. The first we hear of Cotton Mather 
is the unceremonious introduction of his name in the 
episode concerning the " Salem Witchcraft." In what 
light does the author view that sad delusion ? Does 
he, as every impartial chronicler has done before him, 
consider it a melancholy illusion resulting from human 
infirmity, and the subject of compassion rather than of 
censure? Does he seek an apology for Mather and 
the men of his day in the then prevalent belief of Scrip- 
ture authority for the existence of such an evil — in the 
example of Lord Chief-justice Hale, Dr. Watts, and 
other distinguished men in both hemispheres, who, 
equally with Mather, laboured under the same mental 
diathesis, if I may be allowed the term? Far from it. 
If Mather had been prosecutor, judge, and executioner 
of the witches, he could not have been the object of 
more marked reprobation. Through many consecu- 
tive pages, the discussion is extended in a strain of re- 
lentless vituperation, unmitigated by the least mixture 
of candour or charity, and in language as revolting to 
common courtesy as to the dignity of history. Who, 
I again ask, was the object of this bitter denunciation ? 
A man esteemed one of the most pious and learned of 
that age, honoured with a doctorate in theology from 



LETTERS. 151 

Scotland, and with the distinction, which has been but 
rarely conferred on Americans, of Fellow of the Roy- 
al Society in London — a man remarkable for his be- 
nevolence, his suavity of manners, his fidelity to the 
domestick relations, especially to the Church and peo- 
ple of his charge, and who, with the exception (not 
confined to him) of a temporary monomania on the 
subject of divination, was, more than almost any other 
man, indefatigable in his "essays to do good" — a man, 
in fine, on whose memory the immortal Franklin has 
bestowed a higher posthumous honour than could pos- 
sibly have been derived from any other earthly source 
whatever ; and, what is more, I trust it may be justly 
said of this calumniated man, " his record is on high," 
far beyond the malignant annoyance of envy or de- 
traction. 

Nor are the Mathers the only victims to the same 
truculent spirit. Contemporary " ministers" fall, in a 
greater or less degree, under the condemnatory sen- 
tence of our author, not only for a participation in the 
Salem Delusion, but for their alleged political manage- 
ment and officious interference in the civil affairs of 
the colony. In short, one would be apt to think that 
the entire work was written with the main design of 
holding up these good men and their doctrines to the 
derision of posterity, and that the modicum of praise 
bestowed on the early Pilgrims was but an artifice by 
which to gain the publick assent to his abuse of their 
immediate successors. 

I know nothing of the private character of Mr. Ban- 
croft, not remembering to have heard any thing here- 
tofore concerning him, except that he once taught a 
s-chool in Northampton, and has since been made a 
collector of the port of Boston. There is little pros- 



15? LETTERS. 

pect that his historical writings will secure for him an 
elevated niche in the temple of Fame. 



No. 51. 
TO HON. THOMAS DAY. 

Sharon, April 28, 1841. 

* * I looked with no little eagerness amongst the 
articles in the latter,* for a memorial of my greatly- 
beloved and lamented Mentor and friend, the late Chief- 
justice Reeve, but in vain. The thought has since 
occurred to me whether you possess the requisite ma- 
terials for that purpose. I know not from what quarter 
they can be drawn, except from the Funeral Sermon 
by Dr. Beecher. As you may be destitute of a copy, 
I forward one herewith. The notes to the sermon, at 
the request of the doctor, were furnished by myself, 
except the last two ; and I now regret that I had not 
made more inquiries, and extended the notes much 
farther — so far, at least, as to include his literary hon- 
ours. That he received the degree of LL.D. I well 
know, but from what college or colleges I do not pre- 
cisely recollect. 

Your apology, in the Appendix, for conforming to 
the English orthography, was surely altogether gra- 
tuitous. On my part, I thank you for setting such a 
noble example of loyalty to your mother-tongue in 
this backsliding age. Scarcely any thing has sur- 
prised and mortified me more than the disposition 
manifested by not a few of even our learned men to 
establish an American dialect or patois, as disgraceful 
to our civilization as it is discreditable to our litera- 

* The Appendix to the 13th vol. of Connecticut Reports, which Mr. 
Day had forwarded to Gov. Smith. — Ed. 



LETTERS. 153 

ture. I am glad to perceive, however, strong symp- 
toms of returning to more correct views of the sub- 
ject. 

I rejoice to learn that historical collections flow 
into the society so abundantly. The vest of the 
heroick and murdered Ledyard is truly a most touch- 
ing relique. Of all the bloody scenes of the Revolu- 
tion, and I remember them all, no one affected me 
more deeply than the tragedy at Groton — a blot upon 
the British escutcheon which no length of time can 
efface. 



No. 52. 
TO REV. PAYTON WILLISTON. 

Sharon, June 22d, 1841. 

I have lately received a copy of your half-century 
Sermon (without any direction, but undoubtedly from 
your own hand), for which you will be pleased to ac- 
cept my hearty thanks. Little did I expect, when we 
were fellow-students at Yale, that I should live to read 
the half-century sermon of a classmate. Alas ! how 
few of our number are allowed the pleasure, and, I 
will add, the privilege, of perusing your valuable dis- 
course 1 You must have felt the scene deeply. * * 
****** Nearly forty years ago, I heard 
my venerable father address his people under simi- 
lar circumstances. The transaction is a subject of 
frequent and cherished reminiscence with me, and I 
presume will not be easily effaced from the memory 
of his surviving hearers. 

I admire your sermon in all respects, and particular- 
ly for the cheering evidence it affords of your ad- 
herence, in this backsliding age, to the genuine doc* 
G2 



154' LETTERS. 

trines of the Gospel. I perceive in it no trace of the 
New Haven errours, much less of the abominations 
of the German school, to v^^hich, by the way, those 
errours directly tend, and may ultimately reach un- 
less seasonably renounced. The " facilis descensus 
Averni" is fully exemplified by the Boston Unitarians, 
first in their declension to Pelagianism, and thence, 
through intermediate grades of infidelity, to the dark 
abyss of Pantheism. 

God grant that the Theological Seminary in our 
Alma Mater may take warning, and retrace their steps 
in season to escape the same catastrophe. They may 
exclaim, " Hie labor, hie opus est ;" but they will be 
richly repaid when they reach the pure atmosphere of 
their Pilgrim Fathers. 

I rejoice to hear that your health and mental powers 
retain their wonted vigour. Indeed, the sermon is no 
slight proof that " mens sana in corpore sano" may 
justly define your condition. There can not be much 
difference in our ages. I was born the 12th of Feb- 
ruary, 1765, and, of course, have seen seventy-six years 
and four months. I can not say that my "days have 
been few and evil," consistently with a proper sense of 
the numerous and unmerited blessings which God has 
bestowed upon me, through a period extending beyond 
the ordinary term of human life. 

Blessed be His name that afflictions also have been 
sanctified, especially the irreparable loss, four years 
since, of my greatly beloved and deeply lamented 
wife, the wife of my youth, with whose sainted spirit 
I trust ere long to be reunited. Meanwhile, all that 
filial duty can perform to render the evening of my 
pilgrimage pleasant is cheerfully aflforded. " Bless the 
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." 



LETTERS. 155 

Of our class who with us enjoyed the hospitality 
of Judge Daggett in 1833, Goodrich and Holmes have 
since passed, as we believe, to a brighter world. The 
time of our departure, my beloved classmate, can not 
be far distant. That the close of our protracted lives 
may be the entrance into a glorious immortality, is the 
earnest prayer of your affectionate friend. 



No. 53. 
TO JUDGE DAGGETT. 

Sharon, Sept. 13th, 1841. 

I offer you many thanks for your kind letter by my 
grandson, and for the accompanying catalogues. * * 

The reduction of our number is not greater, I be- 
lieve, than has usually occurred ; still it imparts to the 
few survivors a solemn, and, I hope, profitable admoni- 
tion. My health, with the exception of a recent and 
severe cold, is generally sound. My hearing, how- 
ever, is greatly impaired. Accordingly, I have sent 
my resignation to the A. B. C. F. M. as their president. 
The meetings of the Board are much more numerously 
attended than formerly, by the admission of honourary 
members to the right of debate ; and their discussions 
conform so nearly to the rules of proceeding in legisla- 
tive bodies, as to demand of the presiding officer the 
exercise of the faculty of hearing to a much greater 
degree than I possess. Their committee have politely 
pressed me to continue in the chair ; but I can not con- 
sent to hold an office of any description, the duties of 
which it is physically impossible for me to discharge 
in any satisfactory manner. 

I would say a word or two in relation to the aspect 



156 LETTERS. 

of our national affairs ; but, really, the course adopted 
by owY fortuitous president renders the theme any thing 
but pleasant. The poor man is sadly afflicted with the 
morbid constrictions peculiar to Virginia statesmen 
(Washington excepted) ; and that a merciful Provi- 
dence would direct to, and bless means for his recov- 
ery, should be a subject of our devout aspirations. Of 
one thing I am quite sure, that the presidential veto 
should be abridged to the limitation contained in the 
Constitution of this and some other states. Whenever 
parties in Congress are nearly equally divided, the veto 
of the president is, in effect, unqualified, and prevents 
the monstrous paradox of the will or the caprice of one 
man counteracting the views and the desires of the 
majority of a great nation professing to be free. 



No. 54. 
TO GEN. GEORGE P. MORRIS. 

Sharon, Sept. 14th, 1841. 

I avail myself of my grandson's visit to your city, 
to express my admiration of your inimitable sonnet, 
•*My Mother's Bible," and to convey the grateful sense 
I entertain of the honour you have conferred upon me 
by its dedication. Rarely have I seen filial piety, a 
virtue pre-eminently commended in that precious Book, 
so feelingly displayed — never, more charmingly sung. 
I greatly rejoice to perceive that your estimate of the 
sacred Scriptures accords so entirely with my own; 
especially as it inspires the hope, that the friendship 
which I trust we mutually cherish, may ripen into a 
more intimate union — one which will receive its con- 
summation in a brighter world. Why, my dear sir. 



LETTERS.- 157 

will you not more frequently consecrate the rare gifts 
derived from your beneficent Creator to themes select- 
ed from His blessed Word ? Think of the consolation 
you would thus afford to your fellow-travellers in the 
rugged journey of life, and of the delightful anticipa- 
tions which, through divine grace, you might safely 
indulge, of finally joining in the choral symphonies of 
the glorified spirits above. 



No. 55. 
TO HON. TRUMAN SMITH. 

Sharon, Jan. 18th, 1842. 

For a copy of the president's message and accom- 
panying documents, just received, accept my hearty 
thanks. Sorely as I was aggrieved at the course 
adopted by the president during the extra session, let 
me confess to you that I read his communication to 
Congress at the opening of your present session, with 
the mingled emotions of surprize and gratification. 
The gravamen of his veto, in my view, consisted 
chiefly in his denial of the constitutionality of a na- 
tional bank — a question so well settled by the only fo- 
rum competent to decide it. If he had rejected the 
measure solely on the ground of inexpediency, not 
only would that question have remained undisturbed, 
but he might, ere this time, have won golden opinions 
of his prescience ; for subsequent events, I think, clear- 
ly show, that if the bill incorporating the bank had 
passed, the stock would not have been subscribed, 
even if our credit abroad had remained unshaken. 

The repealing and repudiating spirit which at that 
time was threatened, and has since erected its snaky 



158 LETTERS. 

crest, would, in all probability, have deterred prudent 
capitalists from embarking in the enterprize. Under 
all circumstances, I am clearly of opinion, that the fis- 
cal project of the president, sustained, as it is, by the 
able and luminous report of the secretary of the treas- 
ury, with such modifications as the wisdom of Con- 
gress may suggest, is eminently worthy of a fair ex- 
periment. Surely it is altogether less liable to objec- 
tion, both in regard to executive controul, and the safe 
custody of the publick moneys, than the sub-treasury 
scheme ; while the revenue is made subservient to the 
twofold purpose of liquidating expenditures, and regu- 
lating the currency. Such, as far as my information 
extends, are the sentiments of our political friends 
throughout the state. The admirable speech of Mr. 
Evans in the Senate — the magnanimity with which he 
overlooks his disappointment on the subject of a na- 
tional bank, and his readiness to embrace the offered 
substitute, with such improvements as a judicious com- 
mittee may devise and recommend, is surely conduct 
deserving the highest commendation. I am exceed- 
ingly sorry to perceive among our Whig brethren in 
Congress, such a vindictive spirit towards President 
Tyler. From long experience, and I am on the verge 
of my seventy-eighth year, I have learned not to be 
too " strict to mark iniquity," but to forgive as I hope 
to be forgiven. 



LETTERS. 159 



No. 56. 
TO REV. DR. PROUDFIT. 

Sharon, Jan. 31st, 1842. 

I thank you for your favour of the 22d instant, and 
heartily reciprocate the kind sentiments you are pleased 
to express. It is a subject of frequent and grateful rec- 
ollection to me, that I have been associated with you 
for so many years in various institutions designed to 
promote the best and highest interests of our fellow- 
men, and, of course, have enjoyed the opportunity of 
witnessing the ability and zeal with which you have 
asserted and sustained their claims to the patronage 
and beneficence of the publick. The Colonization So- 
ciety, especially, is indebted to you, in no small degree, 
for its elevation from a really depressed state to its 
comparatively prosperous condition ; I therefore re- 
ceive with regret the intimation that you propose to 
retire from its service. I became connected with the 
national Colonization Society at an early period, and 
had the honour of being one of its numerous vice-pres- 
idents. Whether the distinction is continued I am not 
informed. Although I have not found it consistent 
with my other engagements to contribute to its funds 
as I should have desired, still my tongue and pen have 
not been restrained from vindicating the cause against 
the malignant aspersions of its enemies. While great 
good has been produced by the society, we must all 
nevertheless admit that the entire removal of the curse 
of slavery from our country is an undertaking too vast 
for individual or associated effort in the free states to 
accomplish. Nothing short of the strength and resour- 
ces of the nation, humanly speaking, can be deemed 
adequate to the object. The proposition of the late 



10D LETTERS. 

Rufus King in the United States Senate, to appropri- 
ate the avails of the national domain to the redemption 
of the slaves, and their restoration to Africa, w^ould 
have been, in my vievi^, the best possible use to which 
that "apple of discord" could be applied. As that 
scheme is rendered abortive by the late " act of distri- 
bution," there appears to be no alternative but reliance 
on divine grace to inspire the slaveholder v\^ith a spirit 
of submission to the dictates of justice and humanity. 
If this sacred influence shall be w^ithheld, civil con- 
vulsions, sooner or later, v^ould seem to be inevitable. 



No. 57. 
TO REV. DR. BRIGHAM. 

Sharon, March 10th, 1842. 

I duly received your favour of the 26th inst., and I 
thank you for the various items of intelligence it con- 
tains. Should my health continue, I will endeavour, 
by God's blessing, to attend the approaching anniver- 
sary of our society. The tenant who holds over his 
term is styled in law a " tenant at sufferance." Such, 
emphatically, is the condition of one who has passed 
the ordinary term of human life. To make calcula- 
tions on a protracted occupancy must, in either case, 
especially the latter, be vain and illusory. To be vigi- 
lant and active in the discharge of present duty, and 
leave the future in humble submission to a superintend- 
ing Providence, is the dictate alike of prudence and 
piety. 

I perceive by a late number of the New York Ob- 
server, that proposals are issued in Philadelphia by 
anonymous "biblical scholars," for printing by sub- 
scription a new translation of the Bible, accompanied 



LETTERS. 161 

with extracts from the work. As you make no allu- 
sion to the subject in your letter, it may have proved 
a mere hoax. Will you have time and patience to 
let me know your opinion as to the probability of such 
a monstrous act of folly and infatuation ? also to fa- 
vour me with a sketch of the propositions to be dis- 
cussed by the several speakers at the anniversaries ? 



No. 58. 
TO DR. M. L. NORTH. 

Sharon, July 12th, 1842. 

I had begun to fear lest our future correspondence 
should be confined to a mere interchange, and at long 
intervals too, of pamphlets or newspapers. Happily, 
your kind letter of the 5th instant has quieted that 
sombre apprehension, and allows me the pleasure of 
thanking you for your graphick description of the 
Saratoga celebration of our national jubilee. I rejoice 
that divine Providence has favoured you with the op- 
portunity, so long desired, of witnessing such a rational 
observance of the day. 

To your benevolent inquiries respecting the state of 
my animal functions, I answer, that my health is gen- 
erally as good as a subject in the seventy-eighth year 
of his age could rationally expect or desire. I sleep 
well, eat with appetite, and drink pure water with a 
better relish than I ever did wine or the richest cor- 
dial. My sight, though defective in one eye, enables 
me nevertheless to read fine print with glasses of mod- 
erate convexity. My hearing is greatly impaired, and 
yet I can hear any one who speaks with becoming dis- 
tinctness, and not too loud. This defect, however, in- 
duced me to vacate the chair of the A. B* C. F. M. — a 



162 LETTERS. 

body whose proceedings, at its annual nneetings, so 
nearly i^esemble those of civil deliberative assemblies, 
as to demand of its presiding officer " the hearing ear" 
in its highest perfection. The additional fact of a di- 
minished intonation of my voice, admonishes me that 
I ought to make a similar surrender of the chair of the 
American Bible Society, and such is my intention in 
the course of the present year, should my life be con- 
tinued. In short, to relieve you of too much detail, I 
rise early, read my Bible till breakfast, employ much 
of the forenoon in bodily exercise, and the afternoon, 
with the exception of occasional visitations, and other 
interruptions, in reading, partly the current literature 
of the day, but chiefly the Bible ; for, my dear friend, 
if you live to my age (and God grant you may greatly 
exceed it), you will realize, if you have not already, 
the truth of the remark, which seems never to have oc- 
curred to Walter Scott till the last hours of his life, 
when he requested Lockhart to give him the Booh. 
"What book?" "Why do you ask? there is but one 
Book !" I have an assortment of commentaries which 
I consult ; but, after all, they are merely tapers held 
up to the sun. Thus " all the days of my appointed 
time will I wait till my change come," in the blessed 
hope, through the prevailing merits and intercession 
of the Saviour, of uniting with my sainted wife, and 
the glorified spirits above, in celebrating his redeem- 
ing love and mercy forever and ever. 



No. 59. 
TO REV. DR. ARMSTRONG. 

Sharon, Sept. 8th, 1842. 

I perceive with regret that your deliberations will 



LETTERS. 163 

probably be interrupted by memorials from the Anti- 
slavery Society — a society which has also assumed a 
political organization, with its nominations of candi- 
dates for offices in the general and state governments; 
and it is an association thus constituted, which invokes 
the co-operation of an institution altogether sacred in 
its character, and whose sole object is to bear the glad 
tidings of salvation to nations shrouded in the darkness 
of spiritual death. The objection urged by the memo- 
rialists to the reception of contributions to the funds 
of the Board from slaveholders, involves the principle 
that no unregenerate individual (for slaveholders are 
not the only sinners in the world) shall be allowed the 
privilege of affording pecuniary aid, either to the main- 
tenance of the Christian religion at home, or to its 
propagation abroad — a discrimination as odious as it 
is impracticable. However detestable slavery may 
be (and no one holds it in greater abhorrence than 
myself), it is an evil of which the American Board 
can take no legal cognizance ; and, of course, all inter- 
ference in the case on their part by any act or resolu- 
tion whatever, must be deemed wholly gratuitous and 
foreign to their proper sphere of action. The answer 
of our Lord to those who sought his opinion oi Roman 
bondage, furnishes an example eminently worthy of 
imitation by a body exclusively occupied in publishing 
His everlasting Gospel. 



No. 60. 
TO HON. TRUMAN SMITH. 

Sharon, Aug. 18th, 1842. 

I thank you for the various documents you have 
kindly sent me during your protracted session ; and I 



164. LETTERS, 

offer you and our other friends my sincere condolence 
on the ill-fated result of your patriotick efforts to re- 
deem our country from unexampled embarrassments. 
I had hoped that Mr. Tyler would have been satisfied 
with his two first vetoes, and that thenceforward his 
co-operation might be expected in all constitutional 
measures to satisfy the just claims of those who placed 
him in power. It is vain for him to pretend that he 
gave no pledges to the Whigs. He gave what, by a 
man of uprightness, would be deemed the most sacred 
of all pledges, his acceptance of their nomination. Their 
enlightened views of the great interests of the nation, 
and their determination to carry them into effect, were 
perfectly known to him and to all the world. 



No. 61. 
TO A FRIEND. 

Oct. 26th, 1842. 

* * And this leads me to express my deep solicitude 
for the destiny of Daniel Webster, who, in my opinion, 
has no superiour in eloquence, or in profound and en- 
larged views of national policy, or in a pure and eleva- 
ted patriotism. Next to Hamilton, he is unquestiona- 
bly the most gifted statesman this country has yet 
produced. His late negotiation with Lord Ashburton 
has shown him to be also the most adroit and dignified 
diplomatist of the age — resulting, as it has, in a treaty 
for which he deserves the thanks of every man, woman, 
and child, both in Britain and America. Nor can the 
magnanimity with which he remained in the cabinet, 
when his compeers thought proper to retreat from 
their posts, be viewed in any other light than a manly 
sacrifice to the interest and honour of his country; and 



LETTERS. IQS 

it remains to be seen whether that country will duly 
recognize his services, or render him a distinguished 
monument of the ingratitude which, I will not say with 
what justice, has been attributed to republicks. 

Do you know, my friend, that you have but just es- 
caped the loss of one of your few remaining cousins ? 
I was seized about three weeks since with an internal 
inflammation, which threatened speedy dissolution, and 
which nothing but repeated and protracted warm baths 
and copious bleeding was found sufficient to allay. I 
bless God not only for sustaining me under intense 
bodily suffering, but for mercifully divesting death of 
its terrours, and inspiring me with a hope full of im- 
mortality. I enjoy at the present moment a comfort- 
able state of health. 



No. 62. 
TO A FRIEND. 

[This is without date, but must have been wi-itten in 1842.] 

An attack of injiuenza, and other causes, have pre- 
vented me from acknowledging the receipt of your ac- 
ceptable letter of the 25th ult. Accept my hearty 
thanks for the two valuable pamphlets accompanying 
it. I know not that it will ever be in my power to re- 
munerate you, otherwise than by a deep-felt gratitude, 
for the many similar favours you have, from time to 
time, so liberally conferred upon me. 

Gen. Tallmadge's address is really admirable. It is, 
in truth, the most statesmanlike view of our foreign re- 
lations and commercial policy which has met my ob- 
servation for a long period. Not to dwell on the sev^- 
eral causes assigned by him of our present depressed 
condition as the mere colonies of Great Britain and 



166 LETTERS. 

France, I was particularly struck with his remarks on 
the subject of discriminating duties upon foreign ton- 
nage, as it brought fresh to my recollection an occur- 
rence in the early part of Mr. Jefferson's administration. 
It was an essential element in Hamilton's policy to im- 
pose such duties as an encouragement to American nav- 
igation ; and it proved, as might well be expected, a most 
beneficial measure. But at the second session (I think) 
of the 7th Congress, a bill was introduced from the com- 
mittee of commerce to repeal those duties, on the falla- 
cious pretext of" encouraging free traded We Feder- 
alists formed but a small minority ; we knew what must 
be the disastrous effect of such a measure, if carried ; 
and we also knew that if we openly opposed it, the bill 
would inevitably pass. We therefore resorted to the 
expedient of a free conversation with individual gentle- 
men of the Democratick party, and particularly with 
General S. Smith, of Baltimore, the chairman of the 
committee of commerce. We stated to him, I remem- 
ber, as one sure result of abolishing the discrimination, 
that a British vessel might arrive here full-freighted 
with British manufactures, receive payment, take in a 
cargo of American products, carry them where we 
were not suffered to go — to the British West Indies — 
sell them, then take in a cargo of colonial produce, and 
return to England, thus making three voyages in one ; 
and we appealed to him, as an enlightened merchant 
and a Revolutionary patriot, to avert the threatened 
ruin of our navigation. He evidently had not contem- 
plated the subject in all its bearings ; but he frankly ac- 
knowledged his conviction that we were right, and hap- 
pily stifled the bill. In 1815 the measure was revived, 
and, to my utter astonishment, adopted, without a sylla- 
ble of opposition, and we arc now reaping its bitter fruits. 



LETTERS. 167 

Your remarks on the political aspect of the country- 
accorded entirely with my own views at the date and 
receipt of your letter. But I own to you, the message 
of the president at the opening of Congress has some- 
what brightened the prospect. That document so far 
transcends my expectations, that I can not but entertain 
hopes of better times. If the Whigs will rally in earn- 
est, they may soon recover the ground we have lost, 
carry out triumphantly the true policy of the country, 
and thus bring us back to the halcyon days of the Wash- 
ington administration. 



No. 63. 
TO REV. DR. BRIGHAM. 

Sharon, July 12th, 1843. 
* * * * I think very favourably of the proposal 
(in your private letter) to hold a semi-annual Biblical 
meeting in different sections of the United States, un- 
der the direction of a deputation from the Board, and 
attended by a neighbouring vice-president. I am fully 
satisfied that the ambulatory sessions of the A. B. C. 
F. M. have largely contributed to secure the confi- 
dence and consequent patronage of the religious com- 
munity. I fully concur in the regret you express at 
the appearance in the New England Puritan of the 
article entitled Evils of Methodism, and am truly sur- 
prized that the editors should have allowed it a place 
in their journal. Whatever may be said adversely 
to our Methodist brethren, I, for one, admire their 
religious zeal and activity, am thankful for their gener- 
ous efforts in the Bible cause, and have often thought, 
and frequently said, that their organization is, in the 
order of Providence, most happily calculated to coun- 



168 LETTERS. 

teract and finally to overwhelm the host of Jesuits and 
emissaries of the Man of Sin who are overspreading 
our Western States and Territories. 



No. 64. 



TO TILLY GILBERT, ESQ. 

January 18th, 1843. 
***** 

Now my pen is in hand, I can not refrain from of- 
fering you my heartfelt condolence on the present as- 
pect of our country. Never, perhaps, were the hopes 
of good men so completely withered as they have 
been by the events which have followed the elections 
of 1840. I allude to the mysterious dispensation of 
a holy Providence in the death of President Harri- 
son, the singular and unexpected course adopted by his 
successor, and the consequent division and injudicious 
conduct of the Whigs, added to the utterly unprin- 
cipled opposition of the Democratick party. Much 
as I was dissatisfied with President Tyler, I do think, 
if the Whigs had continued united, and all the mem- 
bers of the cabinet, like Webster, had retained their 
places, they might so far have corrected the way- 
wardness of the president as to secure important ben- 
efits to the country ; for, in my humble opinion, if 
even now our friends would adopt the measures (the 
remission of Jackson's fine always excepted) recom- 
mended in the last message, they would deserve well 
of their constituents. But the session, and with it the 
existence of the Whig dynasty, will doubtless pass 
away, without fulfilling in any considerable degree the 
just expectations of the people. 

But of all the evils which either exist or threaten 



LETTERS. 169 

the country, the tendency of the publick mind to abol- 
ish the adequate punishment of crimes, and particu- 
larly the unhallowed measure of repealing the Divine 
law for the punishment of murder, is, in my judgment, 
pre-eminently deplorable. If there is an ordinance 
of Jehovah which possesses any binding force upon 
man, it is, " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall 
his blood be shed." It was delivered immediately 
upon the deluge to Noah, who, with his three sons, had 
then become the progenitors and virtual representa- 
tives of the whole human race. Nor has any one 
of the Divine precepts been so universally, and, I may 
add, instinctively obeyed ; for in all ages since the 
flood, wherever the law has not been enforced by judi- 
cial tribunals, it has nevertheless received a prompt 
and thorough execution by the ^^ avenger of hloodP 
Do the lawgivers of New Hampshire and of the en- 
lightened State of Vermont, propose to tread their steps 
back to a condition of society, in which every man 
must equip himself with pistol and dirk in order to 
protect his own life and avenge the assassination of 
his near relatives ?* Can they rationally expect to es- 
cape the divine displeasure for thus abjuring the gov- 
ernment of the Most High? His vengeance has never 
yet been withheld from governmental acts of open re- 
bellion, from the reign of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, 
to this day. Have they forgotten the explicit renun- 
ciation of his authority by the French Convention, and 
the ineffable horrours which followed ? Do they re- 
member that Robespierre was at first an advocate of 

* I suppose perpetual imprisonment is the proposed substitute. 
How often do prisoners even for life escape ? and what security has 
the keeper of the prison of his life, when the prisoner may take it 
without fear of an increase of his punishment ? 

H 



ITO LETTERS. 

the same misplaced benevolence which they profess, 
and would they not shudder at the thought of imitating 
his subsequent career of blood and carnage ? There 
is, in truth, no calculating to what enormities we may 
be led, after shaking off the restraints prescribed by in- 
finite wisdom and benevolence. And it is worthy of 
solemn consideration, whether every individual mem- 
ber who gave effect by his vote to the repeal of the 
law in question, will not be deemed in the sight of 
Heaven an accomplice in the first and every other 
murder which may be committed, henceforth, in the 
state he represented. May God mercifully reclaim 
those states from this their errour, and by his grace 
prevent any other from incurring a similar exposure 
to his retributive justice 1 



No. 65. 
TO CHIEF- JUSTICE SPENCER. 

Sharon, 21st January, 1843. 

I thank you for your kind salutation by Miss Ster- 
ling, but a communication under your hand, by the 
same bearer, would have been received with additional 
satisfaction. So many of our early associates have 
preceded us to another world, my affection for the sur- 
vivors seems to increase in an inverse and duplicate 
proportion to the diminution of their number. Of the 
six classmates who celebrated the fiftieth anniversary 
of our graduation with Judge Daggett, in 1833, we 
have had occasion to lament the demise of the Rev- 
erend Mr. Goodrich, and the Reverend Dr. Holmes. 
Of the triumvirate who entered the oflice of your fa- 
ther-in-law in 1783, you and I, by the recent death of 
Reverend Dr. Lee, are survivors ; and I think it must 



LETTERS. 171 

"be deemed somewhat remarkable that all three of us 
should have continued so many years beyond the ordi- 
nary term of human life. I was much gratified to per- 
ceive a handsome and just obituary notice of the doc- 
tor in one of our religious journals. His fine social 
qualities, connected with his talents and piety, rendered 
him an eminently useful parish minister ; and you wil] 
concur with me in opinion, that he properly appreciated 
his own capabilities when he left the bar for the pulpit. 

Your new governor, I observe, considers the present 
judicial system of the state inadequate to the prompt 
and effectual administration of justice. How is this ? 
When Kent was sole chancellor, and you chief-justice 
of the Supreme Court, with only four auxiliaries, the 
business of both tribunals was despatched without de- 
lay, to the entire satisfaction of your own community, 
and the admiration of the neighbouring states. That 
the present corps of nine or ten chancellors, and four- 
teen common-law judges, including those of the city 
supreme court, besides your county and corporation 
courts (a number exceeding that of the judiciary of 
England, with her greatly superior population), should 
prove incompetent to satisfy the just expectations of 
suitors and the publick at large, is an enigma which 
I shall not attempt to solve. It is a proof, however, 
that judicial strength does not wholly consist in numer- 
ical force. 

I rejoice, my highly respected classmate, to learn 
that you enjoy a fine, green old age. I rejoice that 
your long life has been signalized by so much useful- 
ness and merited distinction, and that you possess, 
what is desirable in advanced age, " otiwn cum digni- 
tate." 

Although you are ten months or a year younger 



172 LETTERS. 

than myself, yet it becomes us both to bear in mind 
that we are fast approaching the utmost Hmit of earthly 
existence. From my delicate state of health, it is not 
probable that I shall be allowed the privilege of an- 
other interview with you here below. That we may, 
nevertheless, finally meet and rejoice together in that 
bright world where friends never part, is the earnest 
and devout aspiration of your friend. 



No. 66. 
TO REV. DR. SPRAGUE. 

Sharon, 13th Feb., 1844. 

I am sorry it is not in my power to furnish you with 
any incidents in the life of President Dwight, illustrative 
of his character, other than such as are already before 
the publick. My intercourse with him was official, 
rather than intimate and confidential. 

Our acquaintance with each other was not particular, 
until I entered publick life. Even then, when the Leg- 
islature sat at New Haven, it was during the autumnal 
vacation of Yale College, and the doctor was generally 
absent on an excursion for his health. During the sev- 
eral years I was in Congress, I scarcely had an annual 
glimpse of him. Our intercourse became more fre- 
quent while I occupied the executive chair of the state, 
and was, ex-officio, a member of the corporation; but 
you are sensible there is more of form than of familiar- 
ity in meetings of such bodies. Still we occasionally 
corresponded, and I have been in various ways favour- 
ed with the means of forming a high estimate of his 
character. He was not only, in the sense of Horace, 
Homo ad unguem f actus, that is, an accomplished gen- 
tleman, but a ripe scholar, a profound theologian, an el- 



LETTERS. 173 

oquent divine, whose mind was adapted to soar in hal- 
lowed flights of sacred poesy, or with equal ease to 
sound the depths of metaphysical research ; a mind, in- 
deed, so wonderfully constituted as to dictate to two 
amanuenses at a time, on two different subjects, and 
keep both busily employed. Nor were his colloquial 
qualities less remarkable. Such was their fascination, 
that in social intercourse, although he gave to others 
present full opportunity to take their part in conversa- 
tion, they rarely availed themselves of the privilege, un- 
less for the purpose of suggesting a new topic of dis- 
course, and of thus procuring a fresh fund of entertain- 
ment. But I beg pardon, my dear sir, for troubling you 
with my opinion, instead of imparting facts which might 
enable you to form your own. These you will proba- 
bly derive from other correspondents, and I rejoice at 
the prospect that laudari laudato viro is to give addi- 
tional distinction to the venerable name of Dwight. 



No. 67. 
TO REV. DR. BRIGHAM. 

Sharon, Feb. 15th, 1843. 

I heartily thank you for President D'Aubigne's Intro- 
ductory Address. Rarely have I read an article with 
more unmingled satisfaction. We have reason to bless 
God that the halcyon days of the Genevan school have 
returned, and returned, it would seem, to restore the 
true light of the Reformation to England, relapsing, as 
she apparently is, into the darkness of popery. May 
the same benign influence be felt in not a few of our 
churches, and in more than one of our theological sem- 
inaries, infected more or less with the pestilent doctrines 
of the German school ! Thus, " When the enemy com- 



174 LETTERS. 

eth in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord setteth up a 
standard against him." 

The Rev. Mr. Cheever's address before the New 
England Society fully deserved the commendation be- 
stow^ed upon it. He has proved himself the worthy son 
of a Puritan sire. The copy you kindly proposed to 
send has not arrived, but I have been supplied by an- 
other hand. 

I have not seen the book put forth by the Baptists, 
called, and very properly, " Bernard's Bible" to distin- 
guish it from the holy Bible ; nor has it appeared, to my 
knowledge, in this vicinity. I shall endeavor to obtain 
a sight of it from some quarter. What are those peo- 
ple to do for a name ? They have already abjured their 
no?n de guerre. 

Is it not wonderful that two several mutilated editions 
of the precious Book of God should have issued from the 
American press within so short a period 1 One for the 
purpose of giving a wider circulation to the editor's cor- 
ruptions of the English language, the other designed 
as a measure of retaliation on the A. B. Society, for 
withholding an appropriation of our funds to propagate 
the distinctive opinions of the Baptists among the hea- 
then nations. I forbear to affix any epithet to such a 
course. To the glorious Author of the Bible we may 
safely confide the guardianship of his own blessed work. 
" He will make the wrath of man to praise him." 

With the exception of occasional distress from or- 
ganic affection, my general health is as sound as one 
who had entered on his 79th year could rationally ex- 
pect. But the day of my departure can not be very 
remote ; and I bless my heavenly Father that, by His 
grace, I am permitted, with such a degree of comfort, 
to contemplate its approach. 



LETTERS. 175 



No. €8, 
TO REV. E. W. ANDREWS. 

Sharon, June 3d, 1844. 

I reply with great cheerfulness to your inquiries rela- 
tive to the ecclesiastical polity of the Congregational 
denomination in this state. 

The churches of Connecticut have been enabled, 
from large experience, to ascertain the comparative 
merits of an independent, and a consociational organi- 
zation. They v/ere at first, and for many years, under 
the former system ; and if you will examine Trumbull's 
History of Connecticut, it will be seen how incompe- 
tent it proved, either to prevent discord and alienation, 
or to restore peace and harmony when disturbed by di- 
vision. Whenever serious difficulties arose in any par- 
ticular church with regard either to doctrine or dis- 
cipline, resort was usually had to a mutual council 
selected from members of other churches. If the re- 
sult proved unsatisfactory, recourse was had to ano- 
ther, and, in the language of the historian already men- 
tioned, "As there was no general rule for the calling 
of councils, council was called against council, and op- 
posite results were given upon the same cases, to the 
reproach of councils and the wounding of religion." 
This spii'itual anarchy became at length so injurious 
in its effects on the public tranquillity, and there being 
scarcely any other religious denomination in the col- 
ony, the Legislature passed an act, at their May ses- 
sion, A.D. 1708, requiring the ministers and churches 
(the latter by their delegates) to meet and form an 
ecclesiastical constitution. The order was obeyed. A 
convention of ministers and lay delegates met at Say- 
brook in September of the same year, and formed what 



176 L !<: T T E R S. 

is called the Sayhrook Platform, comprising a Con- 
fession of Faith, Heads of Agreement, and Articles 
for the Administration of Church Discipline. It was 
reported to the Legislature at their session in the then 
forthcoming October, who passed an act highly ap- 
proving of the plan, and recommending it to the adop- 
tion of the churches. Although its acceptance was 
optional, yet it received their cheerful assent, I be- 
lieve, with scarcely an exception. Even at this day, 
I know of but one Congregational church in the state* 
(there may be more) not connected with a consocia- 
tion. You are aware that there is a ministerial as- 
sociation in each county, and in several of the coun- 
ties two such. The Consociation is composed of the 
minister and a delegate of the Church in each parish 
within the limits of the association, the delegates pos- 
sessing equal authority with the ministers. It meets 
regularly once in each year, and also whenever or- 
dinations or dismissions of ministers, or other exigen- 
cies of the churches may require.f Its authority, aside 
from that of ordaining and dismissing ministers, is two- 
fold, advisory and judicial : that is, any church hav- 
ing a question pending before it of difficult solution, 
may pray the advice of the Consociation thereon, 
which is always readily afforded, and although not 
binding on the church, is rarely, if ever, disregarded. 
In all cases of a judicial nature, an appeal lies to the 
Consociation by the aggrieved party from the decision 
of a church, and the judgment of the Consociation is 
in such case final and conclusive. What are, termed 
" heads of agreement," consist of conciliatory modifi- 

* There are several. — Ed. 

t And at every meeting, whether annual or special, each chui'ch 
Bends up its delegate, chosen for the occasion. 



LETTERS. 177 

cations calculated to promote a spirit of union and con- 
cord, both in the adoption and preservation of the sys- 
tem. Without troubling you with further details, allow 
me to observe, that this organization has existed for a 
period of more than 130 years, during at least fifty 
years of which I have been an attentive observer of 
its operation, owing, probably, in some measure, to the 
circumstance that my father was the pastor of this 
church for more than half a century. And candour 
compels me to say, that, in my estimation, the sys- 
tem combines Christian liberty with governmental en- 
ergy more perfectly than any other with which I am 
acquainted ; that, under God, it is a safe conservatory 
of the fundamental doctrines of our holy religion, being 
not less efficacious in preventing schism, than in apply- 
ing the appropriate corrective to that or any other 
spiritual declension which may infect a consociated 
church ; and, in short, that it is, in my view, strictly 
conformable to the ecclesiastical model, so far as it 
can be ascertained, of the apostolick age, making due 
allowance for difference of circumstances. 

To your inquiries, then, my dear sir, I answer : 

1. I have neither knowledge nor belief, that "the 
Consociational system of Connecticut has operated op- 
pressively on the churches, or on the individual mem- 
bers of the churches." So far from it, according to 
my experience and observation, its operation has been 
uniformly just, benign, and salutary, in regard to both 
churches and individuals. 

2. To the question, " Have the clergy of Connecti- 
cut, through the instrumentality of the Consociational 
system, usurped to themselves any prerogative or pow- 
er in derogation of the rights of the laity?" my an- 
swer is unequivocally in the negative, according to my 



178 LETTERS^. 

best knowledge and belief. Indeed, I have never heard 
of any such complaint from an individual layman in 
the state, and surely nothing could be more unrea- 
sonable ; for the power of the laity in consociation is 
in every respect equal to that of the clergy, excepting 
in the single act of the imposition of hands at an or- 
dination. On the contrary, the only complaint of the 
system which has fallen under my notice, has proceed- 
ed, now and then, from a clergyman whose departure 
from the " faith once delivered to the saints" may have 
rendered him obnoxious to the penalties of that system. 
3. My reply to your third and last inquiry, relative 
to the beneficial results of the consociational form of 
church government, may be collected from the ob- 
servations already made. I will only add, that in re- 
gard to its effect " in maintaining sound doctrine and 
Christian practice," if the Congregational churches of 
Massachusetts had adopted it at an early period, my 
humble opinion is, the churches of Boston, founded 
by the Pilgrim Fathers, would not at this day be fed 
by pastors " who deny the Lord that bought them," but 
would have remained, from generation to generation, 
the precious monuments of the sufl^erings and sacri- 
fices, the holy lives and indefatigable labours of the 
sainted Puritans. 



No. 69. 



TO REV. ENOCH POND, D.D. 

Sharon, Conn. 

Claiming kindred with the Mathers, I have read with 
unspeakable pleasure, and, allow me to add, with deep- 
felt gratitude, your excellent memoir of " the Mather 
family." The dispassionate, luminous, and efl^ectual 



LETTERS. 179 

manner in which you have refuted the malignant as- 
persions attempted to be cast upon the fair fame of 
Increase and Cotton Mather, richly merits the applause 
of all virtuous and honourable men. From a particu- 
lar acquaintance with Mr. Quincy in Congress, I should 
not have thought him capable of departing on any oc- 
casion from the courtesies of civilized society, much 
less of violating that high sense of truth and integ- 
rity which is the essential and indispensable element 
in the character of an historian ; nor can I now as- 
cribe his injustice to the memory of the Mathers, to 
any other cause than the inveterate hatred which Uni- 
tarianism bears to the orthodox faith. Whether the 
same apology, poor as it is, may be offered for the ma- 
levolence of Bancroft, I am not informed. 

Accept, reverend and dear sir, my sincere thanks for 
your able and generous vindication of my venerated 
progenitors. 

If, unfortunately, your good name shall be assailed 
in like manner by unprincipled men of a future gen- 
eration, God grant the noble spirit you have exhibited 
may, by a like faithful advocate, be triumphantly dis- 
played in its defence. 



No. 70. 
TO REV. DR. BRIGHAM. 

November 27tli, 1844. 

* * * The book, " Ancient Christianity," is a highly 
seasonable as well as valuable publication. Great cred- 
it is due to the author, himself a Churchman, for his in- 
defatigable researches ; the result of which must prove 
astounding not only to Puseyites, but to all those of the 
Anglican Church who deem the Holy S.criptures unin- 



180 LETTERS. 

telligible without the " patristick" revelations of the two 
or three first centuries. The author has indulged in 
too much periphrasis. If the work could be condensed, 
and the authorities presented in meet array, I do think 
the effect would be most salutary. The Fathers, as 
they are styled, have been too long idolized. It is 
painful to perceive there is scarcely one to whom we 
may apply the legal qualification of a juror, " omni 
exceptione major ;" and not one of celebrity who did 
not approve of the perpetual celibacy of both sexes, 
the fruitful source of all the abominations of popery. 
Accept my condolence on the issue of the late presi- 
dential election — the evident effect of the unprincipled, 
nay, the nefarious conduct of the Abolitionists. Pro- 
fessing to be the exclusive friends of freedom, they 
have constructively voted greatly to increase the num- 
ber of slaves, and render the condition of the whole ab- 
solutely hopeless. One of them, I understand, justifies 
their conduct, and expresses their determination to per- 
severe ; alleging that they are in no degree discour- 
aged, remembering, as they do, that Luther was alone 
when he commenced the Reformation. To which it 
might have been replied, Satan also was alone at the 
commencement of his enterprize. While I deeply la- 
ment, for the honour of the nation, the brutality of the 
Democratick press towards our excellent friend Chan- 
cellor Frelinghuysen, I derive, at the same time, strong 
consolation from the reflection, that no man can more 
justly than he appropriate to himself that precious por- 
tion of the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are ye 
when men shall revile you and persecute you, and 
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my 
sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is 
your reward in Heaven." Never since the American 



LETTERS. 181 

Revolution, have I beheld a more unpromising condi- 
tion of our national affairs ; but thanks be to God, who 
can make the vv^rath of man to praise Him, and restrain 
the remainder. 



No. 71. 
TO JUDGE DAGGETT. 

November 30th, 1844. 

I thank you for a copy of the Annual Catalogue, a 
truly gratifying testimonial of the prosperity of our 
Alma Mater. 

We can not sufficiently express our gratitude to a 
wonder-working Providence, when we reflect on the 
humble origin of the College, the votive offering of 
a few volumes by a small band of pious ministers, and 
behold, in answer to their prayer of faith, a noble 
institution, transcending immeasurably her numerous 
competitors in the same beneficent career. I hope 
your modesty will take no offence, if I say that, among 
the means employed for its accomplishment, not the 
least conspicuous has been a Faculty composed from 
generation to generation of highly-gifted and eminent- 
ly-learned men, whose number has been increased as 
exigencies required, and whose benign but command- 
ing influence has elicited from both publick and pri- 
vate munificence, funds enabling them to procure all 
the necessary appliances for a thorough and syste- 
matick education, until we are at length presented with 
an array of teachers and pupils which would do honour 
to any university on either side of the Atlantick. 

Your pamphlet arrived just in season to sooth my 
spirit, sorely wounded by the disastrous issue of the 
presidential election; an event, we hava reason to ap- 



182 LETTERS. 

prehend, more inauspicious to the vital interest of the 
Union than has occurred at any period since we be- 
came a nation. 

Although the Abohtion vote lost us New York, still 
I believe the Whigs would have prevailed, if their 
opponents had set up a gubernatorial candidate of 
less celebrity than Silas Wright, undoubtedly the most 
popular man that could have been selected, and whose 
name gave a plurality to the whole ticket. I say plu- 
rahty, for, after all, both Wright and Polk have fall- 
en thousands of votes short of a majority in that state. 
The canvass has been attended with a bitterness of 
spirit, a profligacy of conduct and of principle, hith- 
erto unparalleled in our brief history. I blush for my 
country when I think of the brutal treatment which 
the pure and lovely character of Frelinghuysen has 
received from the Democratick press. Still, there is 
comfort in the reflection that, like the ostracism of 
Aristides, it will but add lustre to his name. 



No. 72. 
TO A FRIEND. 

Sharon, 21st Dec, 1844. 

The issue of that contest [the late presidential elec- 
tion] has settled the definition of American democracy. 
It is, '^personal slaveiy is essential to the existence of a 
free government" Yes, from the press, at publick 
meetings, and at the polls, the great object to be at- 
tained was declared to be the annexation of Texas, 
as the only means of securing the perpetuity of South- 
ern slavery, and the consequent duration of the Union. 
Accordingly, the friends of that " domestick institution" 
are boasting that a vast majority of the electors have 



L E T T E K S. 183 

responded in favour of that proposition ; and such, in- 
deed, will be the construction put upon it by the whole 
civilized world, who must and will pronounce it a par- 
adox unparalleled in the history of human affairs. 

I know not what may be your feelings, but as to 
myself, I am prouder than ever of the name of Fed- 
eralist ; a name " lovely and of good report," asso- 
ciated with the halycon days of Washington and Ham- 
ilton, commemorative of their patriotick and invaluable 
labours, and which in all future time will distinguish 
the first twelve years of our national government as 
the Golden Age of the American Republick ! Sure I 
am that the principles then adopted are those alone 
which, under God, can insure the prosperity and du- 
ration of the Confederacy. Of this, any careful ob- 
server will be convinced, when he reflects on the many 
awkward and awful embarrassments in which subse- 
quent administrations were involved, when departing 
from those principles, and the mortifying but absolute 
necessity of again resorting to them to relieve the 
country from the sad effects of their fatuity. 

My grandson, who, with his wife, is spending the 
winter in your city, sends us regularly the Weekly 
Mirror. I rejoice that our excellent friend General 
Morris has resumed the editorial chair, heretofore oc- 
cupied by him with so much credit to himself, and 
advantage to the national literature ; and that he is 
happily connected with a coadjutor of such acknowl- 
edged talents and celebrity. Not having before seen 
any of the fruits of their joint labours, I can only 
say the few numbers I have read of their weekly 
edition impress me with a high estimate of its value. 
Indeed, I consider it a periodical greatly superior to 
any of the monthlies that have fallen under my ob- 



184 LETTERS. 

servation. Retaining, however, my adherence to the 
genuine English orthography, I could not suppress a 
feeling of regret on perceiving a few departures from 
the standard, for its fidelity to which the New York 
Mirror was pre-eminently distinguished. Whether this 
pseudography, for so I must be permitted to call it, 
proceeds from the editorial department, or from the 
vain conceit of compositors and proof-readers, I should 
like to ascertain. 



No. 73. 



TO DR. M. L. NORTH. 

Sharon, Feb. 25tli, 1845. 

Your favour of the 6th instant was duly received, and 
I desire you and my dear niece to accept my hearty 
thanks for your affectionate salutation in view of my then 
approaching birth-day. My niece has a correct regis- 
ter. On the 12th instant I attained to the age of eighty 
years 1 Yes, beyond all probable calculation, I have 
lived four fifths of a century ; and, although much 
younger than the patriarch Jacob, I can not adopt his 
complaint, " Few and evil have been the days of the 
years of my pilgrimage." On the contrary, it becomes 
me to confess, with profound gratitude to my glorious 
Benefactor, that " goodness and mercy have followed 
me all my days," and that of the bounties of His provi- 
dence I have received a full share. Even the sore af- 
flictions I have experienced in the demise of many of 
my nearest and dearest relatives and friends, including 
the wife of my youth, have been greatly mitigated by 
the well-grounded and fondly-cherished hope that they 
had passed to a better and a brighter world. 

I was educated at Yale College, and received a de- 



LETTERS. 185 

gree in 1783, admitted to the Bar as an advocate, March, 

1786, married in October of that year to one of the best 
and loveliest of her sex, who, in the month of August, 

1787, made me the invaluable present of a son, and, for 
more than half a century, by her admirable qualities, 
realized all the high expectations which, in the ardour 
of youth, I had formed of the happiness to be derived 
from the conjugal relation. After my admission to the 
Bar, I was soon introduced into an active exercise of my 
profession, arising from the pecuniary embarrassments 
of the community in consequence of the Revolutionary 
war, and particularly from the extensive and entangled 
affairs of my uncle, who removed to Vermont, leaving 
the management of his complicated concerns in my in- 
experienced hands. Thanks to a kind Providence, I 
was enabled, through unwearied exertions, to extricate 
him from a nearly hopeless condition, by the full pay- 
ment of all just demands against him, and successfully 
contesting and repelling all such as were unjust, and 
thus leaving him at last in the enjoyment of a handsome 
estate. For all which, I am bound in justice to say, he 
ultimately bestowed upon me a generous testimonial of 
his gratitude and affection. My professional business 
continued to increase, notwithstanding my frequent at- 
tendance in our Legislature, until called by my fellow- 
citizens of Connecticut to represent them in Congress, 
the first session held at the city of Washington, A.D. 
1800, and for six successive years. On resigning my 
seat in that body, the good people of my native state 
designated me to several important offices consecutive- 
ly, including the highest in their gift. For all which, 
conferred as they were without solicitation, or " caucus^* 
management, I entertain a most grateful sense, with a 
perfect consciousness, also, of having put forth my ut- 
most endeavours to fulfil their just expectati£>ns. 



186 LETTERS. 

In what an eventful age, my dear friend, have we 
both lived! Your experience, however, commenced 
jong after mine. I was ten years old when the war of 
the Revolution began with the battle of Lexington ; old 
enough to appreciate its momentous object, but not suf- 
ficiently advanced to participate in the hazards, or con- 
tribute to the glory of the contest. All its tragical scenes 
and soul-stirring events are nevertheless fresh in my 
memory, and are frequently called to mind, but always 
with sensations which are utterly indescribable. After 
the triumphant conclusion of the war, the pecuniary 
distress which followedj as one of its effects, engender- 
ed a spirit of discontent throughout the country, like the 
murmurs of the children of Israel after the miracles 
wrought for their deliverance, and which broke out in 
open rebellion under Shays in Massachusetts. It was, 
indeed, suppressed, though not without bloodshed, and, 
under the direction of an all-merciful Providence, be- 
came the proximate and efficient cause of cementing 
our Confederacy by the adoption of our admirable Con- 
stitution. 

I forbear to dwell on the organization of the national 
government under Washington, and the illustrious states- 
men and incorruptible patriots who composed the Fed- 
eral administration for twelve years (including the 
presidency of Adams), emphatically the Golden Age of 
this Republick, or on the zig-zag course of their suc- 
cessors ; much less would I harrow up your feelings 
by a reference to the revolutions which, for five-and- 
twenty years, bathed Europe in blood. 

It is far pleasanter to contemplate, with you, the won- 
derful discoveries and improvements which have sig- 
nalized our age. Think of the almost unbounded and 
successful researches of the astronomer in the stellary 



LETTERS. 187 

regions, the wonderful advancements in science, in lit- 
erature, in the useful and ornamental arts, combined 
with the mysterious evolutions of steam and electro-mag- 
netism, and their astonishing results, as exhibited on the 
land and on the water. All these things are truly mar- 
vellous ; but with what thanksgiving and adoration 
should we recognize the right hand of the Most High in 
the triumphs of the cross within the last sixty years, not 
only in remarkable revivals of religion in various por- 
tions of our own country, and in the temperance refor- 
mation, but in the translation and circulation of His 
blessed Word in more than one hundred and fifty lan- 
guages, and in sustaining a system of missionary opera- 
tions encircling the globe. I well remember the lam- 
entation of the civihzed world at the foul murder of 
Captain Cook and his attendants, by the cannibals of the 
Sandwich Islands. Now, by the blessing of God on 
missionary labours, those blood-thirsty savages are 
changed into a civilized and Christianized race. Such 
an exhibition of the power of the Holy Spirit has prob- 
ably no parallel since the day of Pentecost. Honolulu, 
from the kind and hospitable spirit of its citizens, has be- 
come a place of pleasant resort, the Astor^ House, so to 
speak, of all who traverse the great Pacifick. 

My connection with the Bible and Missionary Socie- 
ties has been a rich source of enjoyment, and, I humbly 
trust, is shedding a bland, a sacred influence on the 
evening of my life. But I am taxing your patience too 
heavily. Charge the grievance, if such it is, to the gar- 
rulity of age. 

My general health is good, subject, nevertheless, to 
painful interruptions, from the cause of which you are 
already apprised. No doubt, " shortly, I must put 
off this my tabernacle." O that it may be exchanged 



188 LETTERS. 

for " a house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens !" 

My daughter's infirmities are not wholly removed, 
but she sustains them with most commendable patience 
and resolution. Her consort is still indefatigable in his 
endeavours to promote the spiritual interest of the ris- 
ing generation, and the general welfare of the Church. 
They both contribute their utmost energies to render 
my few remaining days serene and comfortable. I re- 
ally believe they have, thus far, rendered entire obe- 
dience to the first commandment with promise. 



No. 74. 
TO JUDGE DAGGETT. 

Sharon, Feb. 12th, 1845. 

Your favour of the 31st of December last, announcing 
your arrival, on that day, to the age oi eighty years, was 
duly received, and read with no ordinary sensations. 
As my birth-day would occur in six weeks from that 
date, I deemed it prudent, Deo volente, to wait its act- 
ual advent, that I might be better enabled to decide 
whether to respond in the language of congratulation or 
of condolence. And now, blessed be God, I have the 
pleasure to say, I was born on the 12th day of Febru- 
ary, in the year of our Lord 1765 ; consequently, I have 
this day reached the period of eighty years. Yes, my 
fi'iend, we have lived four fifths of a century ! 

But let us come nearer home. With respect to the 
bounties of a beneficent Providence, have we not re- 
ceived our full share of them ? Have not our domestick 
enjoyments been unspeakably great? Have not our 
fellow-citizens of Connecticut given the highest testimo- 



LETTERS. 189 

nials of their confidence, and are we not permitted to 
rejoice in the perfect consciousness of having put forth 
our utmost endeavours to fulfil their just expectations ? 

To crown all, having, by Divine grace, as we trust, 
enlisted under the banner of the Prince of Peace, shall 
we not rely on his merciful guidance through the even- 
ing of our days, and when our earthly course is ended, 
receive His blessed passport to the world of light and 
glory ? 

In your interesting review, you justly ascribe the 
present degeneracy of the national administration to the 
precepts and example of Thomas Jefferson. The re- 
mark has been verified in the progress and result of the 
late presidential election, and is made apparent in the 
instances, so frequently occurring, of corruption and em- 
bezzlement in publick functionaries of various grades, 
down to a clerk of the House of Representatives. What 
a contrast to this state of things do the twelve years of 
the Federal administration present — that glorious era 
in our political history, illustrated by great statesmen 
and incorruptible patriots, who, from elements and ma- 
terials most heterogeneous and discordant, elaborated a 
beautiful system, precisely adapted to carry into full 
effect all the important objects specified in the preamble 
of the Constitution — that Constitution which a Demo- 
cratick Congress make no scruple to violate, whenever 
it opposes any of their disastrous measures ! God grant 
the eyes of the American people may be opened to the 
dangers which await, before it shall be too late ; " be- 
fore their feet stumble upon the dark mountains" of des- 
potism, " when there shall be none to deliver !" 



190 LETTERS. 

No. 75. 
TO GOV. BALDWIN. 

Sharon, May 19th, 1845. 

Accept my hearty thanks for a copy of your excel- 
lency's speech at the opening of the present session of 
the Legislature. I had previously read and admired 
the document, and, it is but justice to add, my admira- 
tion has suffered no diminution from a second perusal. 
When reading in the publick journals an account of the 
preparatory arrangements, the fine military array, and, 
instead of an executive rescript, the personal appearance 
of the chief magistrate before the assembled represent- 
atives of the people, addressing them w^ith the living 
voice on the momentous concerns confided to their de- 
liberations, I could not help exclaiming, " Jam redeunt 
Saturnia regna !" Indeed, the bright and glorious days 
of our Republick were brought with an almost over- 
whelming force to my remembrance. God grant that 
your administration may be the era of their revival, 
and by His kind providence, the pledge of their contin- 
uance. 

I fully subscribe to every sentiment contained in the 
speech. Our Federal relations are happily defined, es- 
pecially the principles applicable to the intercommunion 
of the several states, with a just rebuke of the gross mis- 
conduct of resorting to vindictive legislation against a 
sister state for a supposed violation of right, when the 
Constitution has provided a forum precisely adapted to 
any and every collision which could possibly arise. None 
but the slave states, I believe, have resorted to such an 
objectionable course ; nor would they, probably, adopt 
it, but from a conviction that the nature of their cause 
would scarcely permit them to enter a court of justice 
" with clean hands." 



LETTERS. 191 

The prosperous condition of the state is justly made 
a subject of profound gratitude to the God of our fa- 
thers ; the elements of this prosperity you have displayed 
in a manner which may well excite the surprise, ap- 
plause, and, I may add, the imitation of lier confederates. 
Where, in truth, shall we find a community so highly 
favoured of Heaven ? Even Democracy, when in full 
power, has been most mercifully restrained from exe- 
cuting all its pernicious projects. Nay, when a con- 
vention was called to form a new Constitution, and with 
the ostensible intent of effacing every valuable and cher- 
ished feature of our ancient system, what but an unseen 
and almighty hand not only withheld them from radical 
changes, but, contrary to all human expectation, com- 
pelled them, nolentes volentes, to adopt a stable judi- 
ciary, of which we really stood in need, and which, in 
some good measure, compensated for their unwise inno- 
vations in other departments ? Happy indeed would it 
be for the nation, should the same all-merciful Being ar- 
rest and defeat the nefarious project of annexing Texas 
to these states ; for, aside from its ruinous effect upon 
our Union, what greater affront could be offered to the 
God of justice than for a free and enlightened people to 
covet and acquire territory for the avowed purpose of 
multiplying and extending the horrours of slavery ! 

But I forbear to trespass on the time of your excel- 
lency further than to express a hope, that the Legisla- 
ture will respond to your recommendation in a firm and 
dignified remonstrance against the unhallowed and dis- 
astrous measure. 

I should be truly happy in an interview with your 
venerable father, for w^hom I entertain a high regard. 
We were contemporaries in college, and associates in 
Congress, and for a short time in the Supreme Court. It 



192 LETTERS. 

affords me pleasure to hear that he enjoys a fine green 
old age 



No. 76. 
TO JUDGE DAGGETT. 

Sharon, 28th August, 1845. 

After leaving your hospitable mansion, we had a pleas- 
ant ride to Litchfield, where we arrived at an early 
hour. I enjoyed an agreeable interview with Judge 
Church, then and there holding his circuit, and with my 
few surviving friends — alas ! how small the number ! 
The next day we reached home to dinner ; but over a 
very bad road, so gullied by the storm of the preceding 
night as to be nearly impassable in many places. Be- 
ing much enfeebled by my illness at New Haven, the 
ride from Litchfield nearly exhausted my little remain- 
ing strength ; but, thanks to a merciful Providence, I 
am rapidly recovering my ordinary degree of health. 
I reflect with much pleasure on my visit to your city, 
notwithstanding my indisposition, and the painful occur- 
rence at the Library ; and even from the latter I hope to 
derive a spiritual benefit. 



No. 77. 
TO DR. M. L. NORTH. 

Sharon, Sept. 4th, 1845. 

Your letter arrived during my absence at New Ha- 
ven, whither I went in consequence of an urgent invita- 
tion and request of the committee of arrangements, to 
attend the meeting of the alumni, on the day previous 
to the Commencement, and to preside in their delibera- 
tions. The committee, aware of my age and infirmity 



LETTERS. 193 

seemed to feel confident that, as I had attended the last 
annual meeting of the A. Bible Society in New York, 
it would not be unreasonable to solicit a similar favour 
in behalf of an institution in my native state. In reply, 
I stated that my health was liable to sudden and painful 
interruptions ; that I felt an ardent desire to meet my 
friends on the occasion to which they referred, and if, 
upon the near approach of the day, my strength should 
be deemed adequate to the enterprize, I would make the 
attempt. Meanwhile, a second letter arrived, reiterating 
the request, with a tender of the hospitalities of their 
families, &:c. 

I accordingly went. As the rail-road was pronounced 
uncomfortable as well as unsafe, I took my grandson 
Robert in our private carriage, and on Monday, 18th 
ultimo, proceeded over mountains and very rough roads 
to the place of destination, reaching New Haven on the 
afternoon of Tuesday, greatly exhausted by the journey. 
The night following I was visited by strangury and 
sliffht fever. The hour of meetinf^ was nine o'clock the 
next morning. Accordingly, accompanied by my friend 
Judge Daggett, I repaired," with fainting steps and slow," 
to the place appointed, being the new library edifice, 
unfinished ; but the central room, sufficiently capacious 
to seat a thousand persons, was temporarily fitted for the 
occasion. 

It had a large skylight overhead, but no windows at 
the sides; of course, no admission of air but through the 
door ; the room crowded, and the weather warm ; conse- 
quently, the air of the room soon became nearly as un- 
fit for respiration as an exhausted receiver. Being an- 
nounced as president of the day, on taking the chair I 
commenced reading an address which I had on short 
notice prepared (of ten or twelve minutes', length), but, 

I 



194 LETTERS. 

from extreme faintness, I was unable to finish the peru** 
sal, which was kindly done by Professor Silliman, by 
which time I had so far recovered as to perform the 
duties of the chair until the adjournment, at 1 1 o'clock, 
to the church, where a sermon* was to be delivered to 
the alumni. I made the best of my way to my lodgings 
and my couch, and was denied the opportunity of enjoy- 
ing any other publick exercises of " Commencement." 

Thus, my dear friend, I have given you, in extenso, 
the history of an occurrence, such as I had never expe- 
rienced during the whole course of my publick life, ei- 
ther at the bar, or in the national and state Legislatures, 
or even in the chair of the A. B. C. F. M., or Am. Bible 
Society, or wherever I had been called to preside. I 
consider it the righteous visitation of a holy Providence, 
mercifully intended for my spiritual benefit, and as such 
it is received, I trust, with reverence and submission. 
The journey was evidently injurious to my health, which 
is, however, somewhat recruited since my return. 

The high satisfaction has been afforded me of a short 
visit (much too short) from Chancellor Walworth. I 
had long desired to see him ; and the favourable im- 
pression I had before received of his character was not 
merely confirmed, but augmented, by the interview. 
For judicial eminence, combined with an engaging ex- 
terior, and an exemplary Christian deportment, he stands 
unrivalled within the circle of my acquaintance. 

* An oration. — Ed, 



MISCELLANIES. 



/f? 



MISCELLANIES. 



WASHINGTON IN 1800, WITH A BRIEF NOTICE OF THE 
FIRST SESSION OF CONGRESS IN THAT CITY. 

The first Congress under the Constitution was held 
at the city of New York. Among the important meas- 
ures which occupied their deliberations, was that of 
selecting the territory often miles square, within which 
the national government should be permanently fixed, 
and over which it should exercise exclusive jurisdic- 
tion. The states of Virginia and Maryland having, 
for this purpose, ceded to the United States the terri- 
tory which now constitutes the District of Columbia, 
comprising the cities of Alexandria and Georgetown, 
with the pj'ojected city of Washington, it was resolved 
to remove the government thither in the year 1800 as 
its permanent residence, assigning the city of Philadel- 
phia as its location for the intermediate period. In 
pursuance of this arrangement, the second session of 
the Sixth Congress was by law directed to commence 
at the city of Washington, on the 17th of November, 
A.D. 1800. 

A vacancy having occurred in the delegation from 
this state by the resignation of one of her members, a 
writ of election was issued for the choice of a success- 
or, returnable to the session of the General Assembly 
in October. 

At that session I was Speaker of the House of Rep- 
resentatives, and under little or no apprehension of 
being chosen to fill the vacancy just mentioned, espe- 



198 MISCELLANIES. 

cially as there were two or three other names stand- 
ing above mine in the Congressional nomination.* On 
canvassing the votes, however, both for the special 
member and for the entire representation of Connec- 
ticut in the Seventh Congress, it was my lot to be des- 
ignated to both stations. The event was unexpected, 
and the question of acceptance occasioned much em- 
barrassment. I was in full practice at the bar, and 
strongly, not to say passionately, attached to domestick 
life, both of which would, in no small degree, be sac- 
rificed by a compliance with the wishes of my constit- 
uents. No time was allowed to confer with my be- 
loved wife and venerable father, to both of whose 
opinions I was accustomed to pay the utmost respect. 
On the other hand, my assent to the call of the people 
was urged by Governor Trumbull and other gentle- 
men in terms which, as a professed patriot, I found 
it impossible to resist. Accordingly, I returned an 
affirmative answer to the governor's letter of notifi- 
cation ; and as within three weeks my journey to 
Washington must commence, I resigned the speakers 
chair with a respectful valedictory to the House of 
Representatives, and made the best of my way to my 
own domicil. My dear wife met me with a kind but 
reproving countenance, as I expected, for the thought 
of the approaching separation was truly painful to us 
both. When the inchoate condition of Washington 
was considered, and the consequent improbability 
of procuring even comfortable accommodations, all 
thoughts of her accompanying me were abandoned, 
and we addressed ourselves to the necessary prepara- 

* At that period our members of Congress were chosen by general 
ticket, from a nomination of eighteen candidates previously made by 
tV 9 electors. 



MISCELLANIES. 199 

tions for my departure. Mrs. S. accompanied me to 
Poughkeepsie in our private carriage, there being then 
no publick conveyance ; and as in those days neither 
railways nor steamboats existed betw^een that place 
and New York, I proceeded to the latter in a stage, 
where I found, on my arrival, several members of 
Congress on their way to the seat of government, par- 
ticularly the Honorable Theodore Sedgwick, Speak- 
er of the House of Representatives, and the Honor- 
able Messrs. J. Davenport, Jonas Piatt, and Henry 
Glenn. The speaker proposed that we five should take 
an entire stage-coach to Philadelphia, in comfortable 
assurance of enjoying each others society without 
" democratick annoyance." To the proposition we all 
assented, on my part, I confess, with less dread, though 
a decided Federalist, of "democratick annoyance" than 
those gentlemen, whose feelings were rendered more 
excitable by previous collision on the floor of Congress. 
I had never visited any part of the country south of 
New York. We were nearly two days in reaching 
Philadelphia, a journey now performed in five or six 
hours. The first day we dined with the Honorable 
Jonathan Dayton, United States Senator, at Elizabeth- 
town, who received us very courteously, and sped us 
on our way in the true spirit of hospitality, " welcome 
the coming, speed the going guest." 

We arrived at Princeton in the evening, a place 
justly distinguished for its celebrated seat of learning, 
and scarcely less so by the matchless " ruse de guerre'' 
of Washington in blinding the eyes of the British com- 
mander at Trenton in the night by lighted fires, then 
crossing the Delaware, and capturing a large body of 
Hessians at Princeton, breaking the slumbers of the 
British general by the roar of his artillery, an achieve* 



god MISCELLANIES. 

ment than which no one was more important in its re- 
sults during that memorable contest. Near the close 
of the next day we reached Philadelphia. On ap- 
proaching it, Mr. Sedgwick told me I must be pre- 
pared to meet on the sidewalks more beautiful women, 
both in face and form, than in any other city on the 
continent. An unfortunate remark, inasmuch as it 
awakened expectations which subsequent observation 
failed to realize, and excited a scrutiny injurious to 
faces and forms which might have otherwise escaped 
criticism. They were women, however, whose ap- 
pearance was highly respectable, and whose dress 
and deportment conformed more precisely with the 
" simplex munditiis" of Horace than is usual in our pop- 
ulous cities generally. Indeed, the city itself, though 
its streets are laid out with the regularity of a chess- 
board, and admirably well paved, and the buildings 
remarkable for a superiour style of neatness, and in 
some instances of magnificence, exhibits, at the same 
time, less of the noise and bustle of commerce, less 
gaudiness of attire, and less splendour of equipage, 
than any other city of equal, if not a less population ; 
characteristicks probably derived from the plain and 
simple manners of William Penn, and his associates 
and successors. After spending a day in Philadelphia, 
and receiving the civilities of her most respectable 
citizens, our party started for Washington through a 
region and to a destination hitherto unexplored by 
either of us. The first object of wonder was a float- 
ing bridge across the Schuylkill, composed of logs 
chained together and planked ; but it was a fearful ob- 
ject to our unpracticed eyes when we beheld the hor- 
ses, though driven with gi-eat speed, sinking nearly to 
their knees in water, and the wheels of the stage-coach 



MISCELLANIES. 201 

plunging to at least an equal depth. We passed on, 
through a finely-cultivated country, over good roads, 
and arched stone bridges even over the smallest riv- 
ulets, to the handsome village of Chester, where we 
took breakfast ; thence sixteen miles to the river Bran- 
dywine, the dividing line between Pennsylvania and 
the state of Delaware, on the south bank of which is 
situated the small but beautiful city of Wilmington, 
through which lay our course ; and after crossing the 
state three miles to the Maryland line, we passed on 
to Elkton, at the head of the Chesapeake, twelve miles, 
to a late dinner. Hitherto the journey from New 
York had been truly pleasant, cheered by the well-cul- 
tivated aspect of the country, and the intellectual con- 
versation of my fellow-travellers, in which were dis- 
played the sound learning of Sedgwick, the polished 
literature of Piatt, and the piety and good sense of 
Davenport, not excepting the eccentricities of our 
friend Glenn.* But evening had set in when we rose 
from dinner, and sixteen miles were now between us 
and Havre de Grace, on the west bank of the Susque- 
hanna, where we were to lodge. Our course was 
through a desolate region, and mostly a dense forest, 
the road extremely bad, and a cloudy, dark night be- 
fore us. Glenn, who had a seat with the driver the 
whole way, that he might better espy and escape dan- 
ger, insisted loudly on lamps for the carriage. The 
driver assured him he could proceed more safely with- 
out ; that the lamps would show him danger after fall- 
ing into it ; that, as the light extended no farther than 
the heads of the horses, the darkness was so much 

* This gentleman ever carried with him, on a journey, his death- 
clothes, as he called them, and a long rope to be tied to a bedstead, 
when he slept in a chamber, for escape in case of fire. 

12 



202 MISCELLANIES. 

greater beyond, he could not see the general course 
of the road. We were satisfied with his logick, and 
held our peace. But Glenn murmured the whole dis- 
tance, and we were diverted to hear the driver sport- 
ing with his fears. At a late hour we reached the 
Susquehanna, which in that dark and doleful night 
appeared, without much aid from the imagination, the 
fabled Styx itself. No habitation near but that of the 
ferryman, who might himself well pass for old Cha- 
ron. Thanks to a kind Providence, we safely passed 
the river, more than one mile in width, and found at 
Havre de Grace a very comfortable inn. The loca- 
tion of the village is pleasant, and was intended to be- 
come the site of a great commercial city, at the mouth 
of what was to be rendered a large, navigable river. 
The speculation, however, like many others of a more 
recent date, soon exploded, and the river has since 
been applied to the more practicable purpose of feed- 
ing canals in the neighbouring state of Pennsylvania. 
We started at an early hour the next morning, break- 
fasted at Hartford, and arrived at Baltimore to dine. 
In our course thus far through Maryland, we could not 
suppress our wonder at the sterile appearance of the 
soil, and the evident tokens of bad husbandry — the 
usual concomitant of slave labour — or our amazement 
that not a school-house, nor a place of worship of any 
description, met our observation the whole distance. 
Indeed, on a near approach to Baltimore, we saw noth- 
ing which indicated the suburbs of a flourishing city, 
nor was any part of the city itself visible. We were 
indulging these reflections while slowly ascending a 
hill of considerable elevation. When near its summit, 
one of us exclaimed, " Driver, where is Baltimore ?" 
Giving his horses the whip, he cried out, " There it is, 



MISCELLANIES. 203 

gentlemen !" And surely a more splendid panorama, 
if I may be allowed the expression, could scarcely 
have been conceived. We saw, in one vast survey, 
the whole city in all its magnificence ; its harbour 
filled with shipping, Fort M'Henry, the river Patap- 
sco to its entrance into the Chesapeake, the Chesa- 
peake itself in nearly all its extent, with its indented 
and enameled border, "till the whole stretching land- 
scape into smoke decayed." All, all met our ravished 
vision at once, and never was admiration more deeply 
felt or more strongly expressed. We found the ac- 
commodations at the Columbian Hotel on a large 
scale, and in a superiour style, when compared with 
any either of us had ever seen; for, in truth, they 
were then unexampled in our country, although sim- 
ilar establishments have since appeared in many of 
our northern cities. When we called for dinner, we 
were asked whether we would dine by ourselves or in 
the ordinary. "What do you mean by the ordi- 
nary ?" we inquired. " It is a circle of one hundred 
gentlemen who daily take their dinner here, being 
chiefly merchants and citizens from Fell's Point, and 
all respectable characters." We chose the ordinary, 
and the arrangement was no sooner made than in 
came the Honorable Mr. M'Henry, ex-Secretary of 
War, to invite us to dine with him at his own house. 
But as we stood engaged, and proposed to pursue our 
journey immediately after dinner, he readily deter- 
mined to stay and dine with us. We were all politely 
received at the ordinary, placed at the head of the ta- 
ble, and abundantly supplied by the gentlemen with 
the great luxury of the Chesapeake, the canvass-back 
duck, prepared by them on chafing-dishes, with jellies ; 
a dish which neither of us had ever before seen, and 



204 MISCELLANIES. 

which we unitedly pronounced one of unequalled and 
exquisite flavour. After dinner we proceeded over a 
succession of steep hills, and a sadly-neglected road, 
bordered in many instances by fields exhausted by to- 
bacco crops, and lying waste, to our station for the 
night, fifteen miles from Baltimore. The next day we 
arrived at the end of our journey, passing through a 
region less hilly and less smitten with the blight of 
slavery, particularly two plantations, one of which be- 
longed to the Honourable John Chew Thomas, then a 
member of Congress, eighteen miles from Washing- 
ton. Our approach to the city was accompanied with 
sensations not easily described. '' One wing of the Cap- 
itol only had been erected, which, with the president's 
house, a mile distant from it, both constructed with 
white sandstone, were shining objects in dismal con- 
trast with the scene around them. Instead of recos:- 
nizing the avenues and streets portrayed on the plan 
of the city, not one was visible, unless we except a 
road whh two buildings on each side of it, called the 
New Jersey Avenue. The Pennsylvania Avenue, 
leading, as laid down on paper, from the Capitol to 
the presidential mansion, was then, nearly the whole 
distance, a deep morass covered with alder bushes, 
which were cut through the width of the intended 
avenue during the then ensuing winter. Between the 
president's house and Georgetown a block of houses 
had been erected, which then bore, and may still bear, 
the name of the Six Buildings. There were also two 
other blocks, consisting of two or three dwelling hous- 
es, in different directions, and now and then an insula- 
ted wooden habitation ; the intervening spaces, and, in- 
deed, the surface of the city generally, being covered 
with shrub-oak bushes on the higher grounds, and on 



MISCELLANIES. 205 

the marshy soil either trees or some sort of shrubbery. 
Nor was the desolate aspect of the place a little aug- 
mented by a number of unfinished edifices at Green- 
leaf's Point, and on an eminence a short distance from 
it, commenced by an individual whose name they bore, 
but the state of whose funds compelled him to aban- 
don them, not only unfinished, but in a ruinous condi- 
tion. There appeared to be but two really comfort- 
able habitations, in all respects, within the bounds of 
the city, one of which belonged to Dudley Carroll, A 
Esquire, and the other to Notley Young, who were 
the former proprietors of a large proportion of the 
land appropriated to the city, but who reserved for 
their own accommodation ground sufficient for gar- 
dens and other useful appurtenances. The roads in 
every direction were muddy and unimproved. A side- 
walk was attempted in one instance, by a covering 
formed of the chips of the stones which had been 
hewed for the Capitol. It extended but a little way, 
and was of little value ; for in dry weather the sharp 
fragments cut our shoes, and in wet weather covered 
them with white mortar. In short, it was a " new set- 
tlement." The houses, with two or three exceptions, 
had been very recently erected, and the operation 
greatly hurried in view of the approaching transfer 
of the national government. A laudable desire was 
manifested by what few citizens and residents there 
were, to render our condition as pleasant as circum- 
stances would permit. One of the blocks of buildings 
already mentioned was situated on the east side of 
w^hat was intended for the Capitol Square, and being 
chiefly occupied by an extensive and well-kept hotel, 
accommodated a goodly number of the members. 
Our little party took lodgings with a Mr. Peacock, in 



206 MISCELLANIES. 

one of the houses on the New Jersey Avenue, with 
the addition of senators Tracy, of Connecticut, and 
Chipman and Paine, of Vermont ; and representatives 
Thomas, of Maryland, and Dana, Edmond, and Gris- 
wold, of Connecticut. Speaker Sedgwick was allowed 
a room to himself; the rest of us in pairs. To my ex- 
cellent friend Davenport and myself was allotted a 
spacious and decently-furnished apartment, with sepa- 
rate beds, on the lower floor. Our diet was various, 
but always substantial, and we were attended by act- 
ive and faithful servants. A large proportion of 
the Southern members took lodgings at Georgetown, 
which, though of a superiour order, were three miles 
distant from the Capitol, and of course rendered the 
daily employment of hackney-coaches indispensable. 

Notwithstanding the unfavourable aspect which 
Washington presented on our arrival, I can not suffi- 
ciently express my admiration of its local position. 
From the Capitol you have a distinct view of its fine, 
undulating surface, situated at the confluence of the 
Potomac and its eastern branch, the wide expanse of 
that majestick river to the bend at Mount Vernon, the 
cities of Alexandria and Georgetown, and the cultiva- 
ted fields and blue hills of Maryland and Virginia on 
either side of the river, the whole constituting a pros- 
pect of surpassing beauty and grandeur. The city has 
also the inestimable advantage of delightful water, in 
many instances flowing from copious springs, and al- 
ways obtainable by digging to a moderate depth ; to 
which may be added the singular fact, that such is the 
due admixture of loam and clay in the soil of a great 
portion of the city, that a house may be built of brick 
made of the earth dug from the cellar : hence it was 
not unusual to see the remains of a brick-kiln near the 



MISCELLANIES. 207 

newly-erected dwelling house or other edifice. In 
short, when we consider not only these advantages, but 
what, in a national point of view, is of superiour import- 
ance, the location on a fine, navigable river, accessible 
to the whole maritime frontier of the United States, 
and yet easily rendered defensible against foreign in- 
vasion ; and that, by the facilities of internal naviga- 
tion and railways, it may be approached by the popu- 
lation of the Western States, and, indeed, of the whole 
nation, with less inconvenience than any other conceiv- 
able situation, we must acknowledge that its selection 
by Washington as the permanent seat of the Federal 
government affords a striking exhibition of the discern- 
ment, wisdom, and forecast which characterized that 
illustrious man. Under this impression, whenever, du- 
ring the six years of my connection with Congress, the 
question of removing the seat of government to some 
other place was agitated — and the proposition was fre- 
quently made — I stood almost alone as a Northern man 
in giving my vote in the negative. 

The second session of the Sixth Congress is mem- 
orable, not only as the first held at the city of Wash- 
ington, but also as the last under the Federal adminis- 
tration. Nor has it failed to derive celebrity from the 
choice of a president of the United States, which, 
through the failure of a popular election, had devolved 
on the House of Representatives. The session was 
opened by an excellent speech from the president, the 
elder Adams, delivered before both Houses in the Sen- 
ate Chamber, in which he invoked, in eloquent terms, 
the Divine blessing on the new residence of the gov- 
ernment, and recommended a variety of salutary meas- 
ures calculated to improve and carry forward the ad- 
mirable system of policy which had proved so auspi- 



208 MISCELLANIES. 

cious to the vital interests of the nation. The answer 
was drawn up by my colleague, R. Griswold, chair- 
man of the committee appointed for that purpose. It 
was a handsome echo of the speech. Usage required 
that the answer should be presented in a personal at- 
tendance of the whole House at the presidential man- 
sion. But how could this be done ? The only access 
was by a road long and circuitous, to avoid the swamp 
already mentioned, and the mud very deep. Fortu- 
nately, a recruit of hackney-coaches from Baltimore, by 
their seasonable arrival, enabled us to proceed in fine 
style, preceded by the sergeant-at-arms, with the mace, 
on horseback. We were received with great courte- 
sy, the answer was well read by the speaker, the mem- 
bers all standing, and the reply of the president truly 
appropriate. After partaking of refreshments, the 
House returned to the Capitol in the same order. Thus 
ended the last official and personal interview between 
a president of the United States and either branch of 
the national Legislature. 

The House of Representatives at that period con- 
sisted of one hundred and six members, whereof ^/y- 
four were Federalists, that is, avowed friends of the 
national Constitution as the bond of national union, and 
fifty-two, who at first were styled anti- Federalists, from 
their opposition to the adoption of the Federal Consti- 
tution, but who, in their sympathy for the Democrats 
of revolutionary France, assumed their appellative un- 
til it became odious in the place of its nativity, when 
it was renounced or exchanged for that of Republicans, 
a name by which they chose to be designated at the pe- 
riod under review, although Democrats, or the Democ- 
racy, a very few years afterward became their cyno- 
sure, and so continues at the present time. As a party, 



MISCELLANIES. 209 

they had opposed every measure of the administration 
which wore a national aspect, from the accession of 
Washington to the close of J. Adams's term of service. 
Consequently, from the nearly equal numbers of the 
two parties in the House in 1800, the Federalists, hav- 
ing a majority of two only, were compelled to be punc- 
tual and constant in their attendance during the hours 
of business, especially as the ayes and noes were taken 
upon every question of any considerable importance. 
Our chaplains were the Right Reverend Bishop Clag- 
gett, chosen by the Senate, and, on the part of the 
House of Representatives, the Rev. Thomas Lyell, a 
young itinerant Wesleyan minister, now a D.D. of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the city of New York. 
There was no place of publick worship, unless we ex- 
cept a small Romish chapel of squalid aspect, in a re- 
mote part of the city, and a tobacco-house, temporarily 
fitted up by an Episcopal minister, who had recently 
taken up his abode near the Capitol, in expectation, it 
was thought, of obtaining the appointment of chaplain. 
Congress Hall, however, was devoted to religious serv- 
ice on the Lord's day, and as many members, unhap- 
pily, felt themselves under no particular obligation to 
occupy their seats on that day, there was room to ac- 
commodate such of the citizens as were disposed to 
attend. The chaplains, on all occasions, acquitted 
themselves to general acceptance. 

The Sixth Congress contained a fair proportion of 
distinguished men of both parties. In the House of 
Representatives, T. Sedgwick, H. G. Otis, of Massa- 
chusetts ; R. Grisvvold, S. W. Dana, W. Edmond, C. 
and E. Goodrich, of Connecticut ; J. Piatt, J. Bird, 
New York; R. Wain, and Kittern, of Pennsylvania; J. 
A. Bayard, of Delaware ; T. Evans, Henry Lee, of 



210 MISCELLANIES. 

Virginia, the funeral orator in Congress on the death 
of Washington ; Henderson, of North CaroHna ; R. G. 
Harper, Thomas Pinckney, J. Rutledge, B. Huger, of 
South Carolina, FederaUsts. And of the opposite par- 
ty, A. Gallatin, of Pennsylvania ; J. Nichols, J. Ran- 
dolph, then commencing his career, of Virginia ; E. 
Livingston, of New^ York; J. H. Nicholson, S. Smith, 
of Maryland. Many respectable names might be add- 
ed of both parties ; but I must not omit two characters, 
less distinguished, indeed, as statesmen than as heroes 
of the Revolution, General William Shepherd, of Mas- 
sachusetts, FederaUst, and General Thomas Sumter, 
of South Carolina, of the opposite party. A large ma- 
jority of the House were gentlemen of sound intelli- 
gence and courteous deportment. Although, in the ar- 
dour of debate, instances would often occur of chaste 
satire, and occasionally of indignant rebuke, yet there 
was never any approach to the coarse vituperation, 
vulgar profanity, and even personal violence which 
have so often disgraced the proceedings of the House 
in later times. May we not pronounce them the le- 
gitimate fruits of unlimited suffrage ! 

As the president had recommended, both at the pre- 
vious and present sessions, an amelioration of the judi- 
cial system of the United States, which had imposed an 
onerous course of circuit duty on the judges of the Su- 
preme Court, a bill was reported, and finally passed, 
dividing the states into three circuits, and directing the 
appointment of three judges to each circuit, subject to 
the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court ; a 
wise, a salutary, and highly necessary measure, but 
which, alas ! at the Seventh Congress, imder the fear- 
ful change which had then taken place, was repealed, 
in palpable violation of the express provision of the 



MISCELLANIES. 211 

Constitution. What, at some future period of political 
turmoil, is to prevent this precedent from justifying a 
repeal of the law organizing the Supreme Court itself, 
thus ejecting the judges from their seats, and then, by 
passing a new law, filling the bench with political fa- 
vorites ? May we not say of party spirit, " Quid non 
mortalia pectora cogis ?" 

The committee of "Revisal and Unfinished Business" 
recommended the revival of an act which was about 
to expire by its own limitation, and to which party vir- 
ulence applied the odious title of the gag law, and which, 
probably, had proved in the hands of the opposition as 
effectual an engine as almost any other to overthrow 
the Federal administration. And yet, what were its 
provisions ? Simply affirming the principles of the com- 
mon law concerning libels as publick offenses, but di- 
recting that, in all publick prosecutions for libels against 
the government or its officers, the accused should 
be allowed the privilege of giving the truth of the mat- 
ter charged as a libel in evidence for his justification; 
a privilege, as every jurist knows, which is wholly de- 
nied to the accused by the common law ! The title of 
the act ought therefore to have been, " An Act further 
to secure the Freedom of Speech and of the Press." 
But as it had reference to an improvement in criminal 
law, it was very naturally, though unfortunately, enti- 
tled, "An Act in addition to an Act for the Punish- 
ment of certain Crimes against the United States." 
From the opposition candidates for the first offices 
down to the politician of the bar-room and the spout- 
er at the polls, the law was denounced as invading the 
imprescriptible rights of the people. To complain, it 
was said, of any one act of the government or its offi- 
cers, is made a '' crime," and " what is this but gagging 



212 MISCELLANIES. 

the citizen and muzzling the press ?" When the re- 
port of the committee came up for consideration, Mr. 
Piatt, the chairman, observed, in substance, that the 
law now proposed to be continued would expire by its 
own limitation on the 3d day of March then next. A 
gentleman from Kentucky (Davis) has told us that on 
that day " the sun of Federalism will set forever'.'' If 
so, may Heaven preserve us in the darkness which will 
inevitably follow ! It truly is from an apprehension 
that such may be the fate of our country, that we are 
desirous to continue the operation of this law for our 
protection ; lest, for uttering the truth concerning their 
measures, " the rulers of the darkness of this world" 
should subject us to the rigour of the common law. 
The act can not injure them, while to us it w^ould prove 
a "shield and buckler." Several members of the op- 
position denounced the act with much vehemence, re- 
iterating the false representations which the endless 
repetitions of stump orators had rendered familiar to 
their minds, among whom Mr. Nicholson, of Mary- 
land, distinguished himself by stating, or rather repeat- 
ing with great particularity, three cases of cruelty and 
oppression which he alledged arose from the operation 
of the law in question, and on which he commented 
with extreme severity. Mr. Harper at length arose, 
and in a calm and dignified manner, presented unde- 
niable proofs (which he had taken the precaution to 
obtain) that the cases stated by the gentleman from 
Maryland had not even the semblance of truth ; that no 
such cases had ever existed ; but that the whole were 
sheer fabrications of the party press. The effect upon 
the House was electrical, and the mortification of his 
opponents can be better conceived than expressed. 
He then administered to the opposition a severe and 



MISCELLANIES. 213 

eloquent reproof for their disingenuous resort to these 
and other gross misrepresentations of the measures of 
the government to promote their own pohtical ad- 
vancement ; to force themselves into offices occupied 
by men v^^hose energy and patriotism, in the brief space 
of twelve years, had elevated their country from disor- 
ganization and bankruptcy to her present state of pros- 
perity and glory — and all this while constantly annoy- 
ed by unrelenting abuse, and resisted in every form that 
envy of superiour worth could devise — [a time] even 
signalized by two open insurrections, the first and most 
formidable of which was aimed, incredible as it may 
appear to posterity, at the administration of the Father 
of his Country ! I give but a meagre sketch of what 
was a most splendid and triumphant vindication, to 
which not a word was offered in reply. The report 
of the committee was accepted, but the bill never 
passed. 

It may be well here to mention an occurrence which 
strikingly illustrates the feelings entertained by the 
opposition toward the speaker. A man by the name 
of Lane, a spectator in the gallery, being partially in- 
toxicated, was guilty of gross disorder. The speaker 
directed the sergeant-at-arms to remove him. The 
order was immediately executed. The culprit went 
forthwith to a magistrate, procured a warrant, and had 
the sergeant arrested on a charge of assault and bat- 
tery. A letter, stating this transaction, was addressed 
by the sergeant to the speaker, who laid it before the 
House, and by their order it was referred to the Com- 
mittee of Privileges. Of that committee, instead of a 
better, I was chairman. We made no delay in sum- 
moning the ofl^ending magistrate to appear before us. 
He came with fear and trembling ; alledged that he was 



514 MISCELLANIES. 

Utterly ignorant of the rules and usages of Congress ; 
that Lane informed him that a member of the House had 
advised him to prosecute ; and that, having obtained a 
warrant and given it to an officer, he had absconded. 
The magistrate then added, "I am satisfied the pro- 
ceeding v^^as altogether irregular, and for which I 
hope to be forgiven." The committee, after a brief 
deliberation, informed the magistrate that we were 
satisfied with his apology, which he was requested to 
state in a letter addressed to the committee ; that we 
would report it to the House, and, if accepted by that 
body, he might consider the affair as terminated. A 
report of the whole case was accordingly prepared, 
and appears at large on the journal of the House. Its 
acceptance, however, was resisted by the opposition, 
and on the preposterous assumption that the speaker 
had transcended his authority in removing the drunk- 
en and disorderly spectator from the gallery, although 
they well knew it was done in strict conformity to a 
positive rule of the House. The ayes and noes were 
taken on different points no fewer than three times, 
but the report was finally accepted by a vote of fifty to 
thirty-eight. 

The approaching presidential election by the House 
of Representatives, the first under the present Consti- 
tution, required the adoption of preparatory arrange- 
ments, and the rules necessary to be observed on the 
occasion, all which occupied the House for many days. 

The election for president had taken place under the 
Constitution according to its original provision, which 
required the electors to vote for two persons to be 
president, and if both received a majority of all the 
votes, the one which had the greatest number was to 
be president, and the other vice-president ; and if no 



MISCELLANIES. 215 

one received a majority over all the candidates, the 
election was to devolve on the House of Representa- 
tives, voting by states, and each state entitled to one 
vote. On the part of the opposition, at the election 
which had recently taken place, Thomas Jefferson and 
Aaron Burr were the candidates, and caucus pledges 
had been given that both should be voted for una voce; 
and although there had been no official canvass, yet 
satisfactory evidence was before the publick that those 
two gentlemen had received a majority of eight votes 
over all other candidates, and that their number was 
precisely equal. It therefore became expedient to pro- 
vide for the anticipated contingency. A committee 
was accordingly appointed, and a detailed report pre- 
sented, which, after much discussion, was adopted by 
the House. The rules, for substance, were : 

1. If the examination before both Houses should re- 
sult in no choice by the electors, the representatives 
were immediately to return to their chamber. 

2. The doors to be shut against all but officers of 
the House, and senators, for whom seats should be 
provided. 

3. That the delegation of each state should sit to- 
gether, appointing one or more of their number as tell- 
ers. That ballot-boxes should be provided for the re- 
spective states, and the vote in each delegation should 
be by ballot, and the choice ascertained by the teller 
or tellers, and the vote of the state thus ascertained 
should be a written or printed ballot, with the name of 
the candidate voted for (or if their division be equal, 
the word divided written or printed), and deposited in 
the general ballot-box when presented by the sergeant- 
at-arms, who was also to pass over the same ground 
with another box, and receive from the several dele- 



216 MISCELLANIES. 

gations the vote ascertained by a second ballot among 
themselves, and the result placed in like manner in the 
general ballot-box, but by a different member of the 
delegation. The two general boxes were then to be 
examined by tellers, and, if the boxes agreed, the result 
was to be declared by the speaker ; but if the two 
boxes varied from each other, the process must be re- 
peated. 

4. After commencing the balloting for president, the 
House shall not adjourn until a choice be made. 

5. All questions which may arise after the balloting 
shall commence, to be decided by the House, voting by 
states. 

6. In the event of a choice, immediate notice thereof 
should be given to the Senate and to the President of 
the United States. 

Meanwhile, the Federal members of the House met 
together for the purpose of agreeing on the course it 
might be advisable to adopt in the exigency which was 
expected to occur. After solemn deliberation, we came 
to the following unanimous conclusion : In the first 
place, the candidates are neither of them such as we 
should have chosen ; but as we are compelled by our 
constitutional obligation to vote for one of them, we 
can not rightfully avoid giving our suffrage to the one 
who, in our view, is the least exceptionable. Second- 
ly, from Mr. Jefferson's declared opinions on the sub- 
ject of our national policy, such as his hostility to for- 
eign commerce, to navigation of a higher grade than 
a fishing-smack, and to a navy of any greater force 
than gun-boats for harbour defence — in short, from his 
known opposition to the entire system devised and 
perfected by Washington and Hamilton, so fruitful of 
blessings to our country, we could not, in conscience, 



MISCELLANIES. 217 

assent to his elevation to supreme executive authority; 
but as Mr. Burr, with whom no one of us has holden 
either intercourse or conversation on the subject of the 
election, is not known to have committed himself upon 
the points already mentioned ; as he unquestionably 
possesses talents of a superiour order ; is wedded to 
no visionary theories ; a man of active and practical 
habits, and may be fairly presumed ambitious to sig- 
nalize his administration by endeavours to promote 
the national prosperity, we feel bound to give him our 
vote.* Thirdly, as both of the candidates, having re- 
ceived the undivided vote of the electors, must be 
deemed alike the favourites of our opponents, it will 
be in their power, by uniting with us, to give at any 
moment, during the pendency of the election in the 
House, a president to the Union of their own free 
choice. Fourthly, we propose, therefore, to persevere 
in our present determination until a choice is effected, 
consigning to those who have produced this state of 
things, the responsibility of leaving the nation without 
a chief magistrate. 

At length, the second Wednesday ot February, A.D. 
1801, arrived. At 12 o'clock a message came from the 
Senate, requesting the attendance of the House in the 
Senate Chamber ; accordingly, the members, led on by 
the speaker, proceeded thither and took their seats, 
when, in presence of both Houses, the president of the 
Senate (Mr. Jefferson) opened the certificates of the 
electors of the several states, and the tellers, Mr. Wells 
of the Senate, and Messrs. Rutledge and Nicholas of 
the House, declared the result, to wit, for Thomas Jef- 
ferson, votes seventy-three ; Aaron Burr, seventy-three ; 

* The admirable manner in which Burr presided in the Senate, went 
for to coniii-m the above estimate of his taleuta and capacity for business. 

K 



218 MISCELLANIES. 

John Adams, sixty-five ; Charles C. Piiickney, sixty- 
four; John Jay, one. The president of the Senate 
then declared that, as the electors had failed to elect 
a president, the choice devolved on the House of Rep- 
resentatives ; whereupon they immediately withdrew, 
repaired to their own chamber, and having taken their 
position by states, the speaker ordered the doors to be 
shut, and called upon the states to prepare and send 
up their votes for one of the two candidates presented 
for their choice to be President of the United States. 
The result having been ascertained, the speaker an- 
nounced, " The tellers report, and the boxes agree, that 
eight states have voted for T. Jefferson, six states for 
A. Burr, and two states are divided'' There being 
no choice, he repeated the call for another ballot ; and 
thus a continuous balloting was kept up, with the same 
result, until midnight, when the states voted to suspend 
the ballot for one hour. In this interval, the boarding- 
houses sent refreshments to the committee-rooms for 
the members. It may be proper to state a fact illus- 
trative of the temper of the times. Maryland was one 
of the divided states, /ow?- and four, Nicholson, friend- 
ly to Jefferson, was confined to his bed with a fever. 
The Federal gentlemen proposed to him, previous to 
the commencement of the ballot, that his colleague,' 
Mr. Craik, a Federalist, being himself in a delicate 
state of health, would cheerfully absent himself, or, as 
it was termed, " pair off" with him (Nicholson) until 
the election should terminate, as it would make no dif- 
ference in the vote of the state, and might prevent any 
evil consequences that might ensue from his exposure. 
This humane, not to say generous and gentlemanly 
proposition, was rejected, and the sick man, in spite of 
the entreaties of his friends, insisted on being, and ac- 



MISCELLANIES. 219 

tually was brought into the Capitol on his bed, and his 
vote received from him in that position. The hour 
having expired, the ballot was repeated, and at differ- 
ent intervals through the night, and through the next 
day, 12th, through the 13th, and Saturday the 14th, 
when, after taking the thirty-third ballot, the result the 
same, it was voted that the ballot be repeated on Mon- 
day the 16th, and not before. On Monday the thirty- 
fourth ballot was taken, the result the same ; and it 
was ordered that the ballot be repeated on Tuesday 
at 12 o'clock, and not before. During this interval, 
Mr. Bayard, of Delaware, requested a meeting of his 
Federal brethren for further consultation, and it was 
held accordingly. He began by inquiring whether 
any gentleman present had received any communica- 
tion from Mr. Burr touching the pending election, or 
could inform us why he tarried at Baltimore, when his 
appearance here would undoubtedly secure his eleva- 
tion to the presidency ? But not one of us could give 
him the information he desired, as no one of us had 
held any intercourse with him either before or during 
the session in relation to the subject. He then ob- 
served, that unless Burr made his appearance here, 
there was no prospect of our prevailing in the present 
contest ; that the opposite party, he was well assured, 
would persevere to the 4th of March before they 
would renounce their candidate, undismayed by what- 
ever disasters might result from leaving the nation 
without a president, and, consequently, without a gov- 
ernment, an event which, so far from exciting any 
fearful apprehensions on their part, would rather ac- 
cord with their disorganizing principles ; that he would 
continue to vote as he had done until some one of the 
gentlemen present of Burr's personal acquaintance 



220 MISCELLANIES. 

would address a letter to him on the point at issue, and 
wait a reasonable time to receive an answer ; but that, 
holding, as he did, the vote of a state, he could not con- 
sent that the 4th of March should arrive without a 
chief magistrate. The declaration of Mr. Bayard 
rendered it quite unnecessary to address Mr. Burr, or 
to prolong the conflict, inasmuch as his remarks be- 
came a subject of notoriety and of mutual gratulation 
to the opposite party within one hour after they were 
deUvered. On the second ballot, therefore, on Tues- 
day, being the 36th, it was declared by the speaker 
that ten states had voted for Thomas Jefferson, four 
states for Aaron Burr, and two states had delivered 
blank votes, and accordingly he declared " Thomas 
Jefferson President of the United States." The two 
additional votes for Jefferson were given by the divid- 
ed states, Vermont and Maryland, a Federal member 
in each casting in a blank. The two states which vo- 
ted in blank were Delaware and South Carolina. The 
four states which persevered in the vote for Burr 
were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
and Connecticut. Thus ended the electoral drama, 
with a catastrophe sufficiently bitter in its effects on 
the vital interests of the country. Of these, some no- 
tice will be hereafter taken. Suffice it for the present 
to say, they were such as, in my judgment, fully justi- 
fied the vote we gave on that occasion. 

The remainder of the session was devoted chiefly 
to the passage of appropriation bills and other ordi- 
nary business. A few days before the close of the ses- 
sion, several of the Federal members obtaining leave of 
absence, their political friends were left in a minority. 
When, therefore, near the hour of twelve o'clock at 
night of the third of March, Mr. Nott, of South Car. 



/MISCELLANIES. 221 

olina, rose, and, addressing the clerk of the House, 
moved the customary vote of thanks to the speaker, 
strange as it may appear, the motion was opposed by T. 
T. Davis, of Kentucky, and G. Christie, of Maryland, 
in a strain, of the most vulgar abuse of that venerable 
man; and, vi^hat must seem incredible, this * * * * 
was sanctioned by their party, except three or four of 
the speaker's anti-Federal colleagues, who, by civilly 
retiring from the floor, enabled us to carry the resolu- 
tion. It is indeed painful, at this day, to see on the 
printed journal the names of A. Gallatin, N. Macon, 
and E. Livingston among the herd who gave their 
assent to a course as discourteous, as it was unpro- 
voked, unjust, and unprecedented. The speaker made 
a truly felicitous and dignified reply, and, to the evi- 
dent mortification of his opponents, without conde- 
scending to take the least notice of their shameful ex- 
hibition of party venom ; but, near the close of his re- 
marks, he paid the following tribute to the merits of 
his political associates : " On this occasion I deem 
myself authorized, from the present circumstances, to 
declare, that those with whom I have had the honor 
here to act and think, whose confidence I have enjoy- 
ed, whose bosoms have been open to inspection, de- 
serve, in my cool and deliberate opinion, all the es- 
teem, gratitude, and affection which their countrymen 
can bestow. As the last words I shall utter as a pub- 
lick man, I make this declaration in the presence of 
the assembled representatives of the nation, and not 
only so, but in the presence of that heart-searching 
God to whom I feel myself responsible for all my con- 
duct." 

- After the usual interchange of messages, the two 
Houses adjourned without day. 



223 MISCELLANIES. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

The fourth of March, A.D. 1801, ushered in the new 
administration under Thomas Jefferson. A few char- 
acteristicks of the president, derived from authentick 
sources, may not be undeserving of notice. 

In his inaugural address he eulogizes the national Con- 
stitution. And yet, in a letter to a foreign correspond- 
ent,* he had charged the Federalists with endeavours, to 
impose upon the country "the substance, as they already 
had i\\eform, of the British monarchy." 

In the same address he pronounces the Constitution 
"in the full tide of successful experiment," thus giving 
his attestation to the purity, fidelity, and patriotism of 
the very men whom, by falsehood and intrigue, he had 
traduced and supplanted. In the same address, he ex- 
tols the virtues of Washington ; and yet, in the letter 
already mentioned, he represents the administration of 
Washington as conducted by those who had been " Sol- 
omons in council and Samsons in the field, but whose 
locks had been shorn by the whore of England." 

And in the Aurora, a paper established under his 
auspices, an article appeared on the day after Wash- 
ington's term of service expired, which quoted, with 
impious exultation, the language of Simeon on the ad- 
vent of the Saviour, and with solemn mockery thanked 
God that iniquity could no longer be sanctioned by the 
name and authority of Washington. 

In his inaugural address the new president asserted 
that there existed in the nation no essential distinction 
of political parties. " We are all Republicans, we are 
all Federalists ;" expressing his determination, that in 

* Letter to Mazzio. 



MISCELLANIES. 223 

appointments to office his sole inquiry concerning a can- 
didate should be, " Is he honest ? is he capable ? is he 
faithful to the Constitution /" and yet he was no sooner 
warm in his seat than the war of extermination began, 
and continued until every Federalist was ejected from 
every office that was an object of desire to any of his 
adherents, and their places tilled with his favourites. 

Notwithstanding his avowed reverence for the Con- 
stitution, and his solemn oath to support it, yet in his 
first message to Congress he recommended the repeal 
of the law organizing the Circuit Courts of the United 
States, while the judges were in the full exercise of their 
authority, who would of course be thus removed by a 
legislative act, in direct violation of the Constitution, 
which makes the tenure of their office ^^ during good be- 
haviou?';" and yet the recommendation, or, rather, man- 
date, was obeyed, and the judges hurled from their seats. 

To the same Congress he recommended the utmost 
frugality in the governmental expenditures, thus to avoid 
^ taxing the mouth of labour ;" and yet he approved and 
signed an act passed by the same Congress for the in- 
crease of the salaries of the heads of the departments 
from $3500 and $3000 to $6000 each, which continue 
to this day. 

To illustrate Mr. Jefferson's aversion to our military, 
naval, and commercial interests, let the three following 
cases suffice. At his accession, our little army, a major- 
general's command, barely sufficient to man our forts 
and frontier posts, was by him reduced to a single 
brigade ; in consequence of which, many of our most 
important fortresses were consigned to desertion and 
dilapidation, requiring a vast expenditure for their rep- 
aration on the approach of the war in which his success- 
or was involved. 



224 MISCELLANIES. 

The few frigates built by the former administration 
were, in the new order of things, laid up in ordinary ; 
and the live oak and other timber procured by that ad- 
ministration for six seventy-fours were, by the new 
president's order, immersed in fresh water to season^ 
by which process they became rotten to such a degree 
as to be utterly unfit for ships ; and, to cover the dis- 
grace of the transaction, were afterward cut up into 
gun-boats — a dead loss both of the timber and the ex- 
pense of their construction. 

To destroy, as it would seem, the highly prosperous 
commerce and navigation resulting to our country from 
President Washington's proclamation of neutrality, Mr. 
Jefferson recommended to Congress, in a secret message, 
to pass an act laying an embargo, unlimited in duration, 
on all our ships and vessels. The measure was adopted 
in secret, and with indecent haste, by which a loss, es- 
timated at more than one hundred millions of dollars, 
was incurred by the commercial and navigating inter- 
ests of our country, without computing the profits which 
a continued exercise of their undoubted rights would 
have secured to that enterprising class of our citizens. 

If, in this brief survey, we look in vain for those en- 
larged views, that stern integrity, and high sense of 
honour which should characterize a successor of Wash- 
ington, what shall we say of him as a subject of the 
moral government of Jehovah? Think of his visiting 
the tomb of Washington, and shedding crocodile tears 
over his remains ; a transaction evidently intended, for 
it was extensively published, to favour his election to 
the presidency, but which was truly distressing to Mrs. 
Washington. She assured a party of gentlemen, of 
which I was one, at her house in January, 1802, that, 
next to the loss of her husband, it was the most painful 



MISCELLANIES. ^25 

occurrence of her life. He must have known, she ob- 
served, that we then had the evidence of his perfidy in 
the house. Think of his spending the last years of his 
advanced age in preparing his atheistical works for the 
press, and the last moments of his life in charging his 
grandson to publish them to the world, and such blas- 
phemies, too, as the world had never heard, and such as 
it would be the height of impiety to repeat ; and who 
was this grandson ? The son of his only surviving 
daughter, a woman of rare accomplishments, of exem- 
plary piety, a professor of the Christian religion ! 1 
Strange that the Legislature of Virginia should have 
appointed this blasphemer sole regent of their Univer- 
sity ! Against the remonstrances of the faculty, he ex- 
cluded every species of religious influence from the 
students ; but scarcely had the clods of the valley cov- 
ered him, ere the exercises of Christian worship were 
introduced and still continue to be faithfully observed. 



FEDERALISM AND ITS FRUITS. 

The contest for national independence, though by the 
Divine blessing eminently successful, necessarily ex- 
hausted nearly the entire resources of the country, and 
thus subjected our publick councils, both of the general 
and state governments, as well as individuals in great 
numbers, to serious embarrassments. The pressure fell 
with redoubled weight on the New England States, 
whose contributions to the war, both in men and money, 
far exceeded those of any other portion of the Union. 
Although, after the extinction of Continental paper 
money, the loans obtained from France and Holland, 
and the supplies furnished the troops and naval force of 
our French allies, occasioned a visible increase of metal- 
K2 



226 MISCELLANIES. 

lie currency, yet the eagerness with which our citizens, 
long confined to clothing and other articles of a coarse 
domestic fabrick, supplied themselves with British goods, 
sent hither in great profusion after the close of the war, 
soon swept no small part of the circulating medium into 
the coffers of the foreign artisan and manufacturer — 
precisely the effect which would now be repeated, if 
Southern policy is allowed to break down our manu- 
facturing establishments. Congress had contracted an 
enormous debt in the prosecution of the war, without 
revenue to meet their engagements, and without the in- 
herent power of raising for that or any other purpose a 
single dollar. Their fiscal ability was limited to requi- 
sitions upon the several states ; a precarious dependence 
even in war, and much more so in time of peace. There 
was a large class, also, of private citizens, whose debts, 
contracted before the war, had remained unpaid, and 
were now, with accumulated interest, along with de- 
mands of a more recent date, pressed for liquidation ; 
which, as might be expected, swelled the dockets of the 
courts with law-suits, and augmented the number of in- 
mates in our debtor-prisons. 

The condition of the country, therefore, in 1784-5, 
gave rise to two distinct political parties. One party 
was in favor of enlarging the powers of Congress, and 
thus rendering the Federal, or central government, ef- 
fective in regulating our intercourse with foreign na- 
tions ; in promoting the agricultural, manufacturing, and 
commercial enterprise of the country ; in producing a 
sound national currency; in securing the faithful admin- 
istration of justice ; and in thus uniting the several states, 
without essentially impairing their sovereignty, into one 
great confederated Republick. 

The other party objected to conferring on Congress 



MISCELLANIES. 227 

any additional authority whatever, but strenuously con- 
tended for a more vigorous exercise of sovereign pow- 
er in the states, particularly in alleviating the then exist- 
ing embarrassments by emitting a paper currency, and 
making it a tender in payment of all debts and demands ; 
which provision, it was said, would be adequate to a fund 
for its redemption ; or by making personal property a 
tender, at the appraisal of indifferent men, in satisfaction 
of judgments and executions; or by suspending the col- 
lection of debts for a limited time by a legal process ; 
avowing their conviction that the prosperity of the 
country would be more effectually promoted under the 
exclusive administration of the respective states, than 
under any Federal system that could be devised. Hence 
the two parties were distinguished by the appellatives 
FEDERALISTS and ANTI-FEDERALISTS. In many of the 
states the party last mentioned comprised a majority of 
the people, and in all others they composed large mi- 
norities. Whenever predominant, they gave effect to 
their principles by adopting some one or more of the 
measures already recited. In Rhode Island they issued 
paper money, which was made a tender of an unpre- 
cedented description, that is, by operating as an imme- 
diate extinguishment of the demand, whether received 
by the creditor or not ; in other words, a tender was 
payment. The State of New York also issued bills of 
credit, and made them a tender on executions, and re- 
ceivable for all taxes and other demands due the state. 
One or two other states also created a paper medium. 
Still these, and the other expedients resorted to, were 
found inadequate to the exigencies of the country. The 
officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary Army remain- 
ed unrewarded for their services and sacrifices, while the 
certificates of indebtedness given them in lieu of pay- 



223 MISCELLANIES. 

ment, like all other evidences of the publick debts, 
whether of the general or state governments, were con- 
stantly depreciating in value ; in short, the people gen- 
erally appeared to have lost all confidence in their gov- 
ernment and in each other. To finish the climax of 
misfortune, an insurrection broke out in Massachusetts, 
which shut up the courts of justice in two large coun- 
ties, and threatened the entire overthrow of the Com- 
monwealth ; and as symptoms of a similar spirit ap- 
peared in other states, the horrours of a civil war seem- 
ed inevitable. At this dark period, well might the heroes 
and patriots of the Revolution feel that they had fought 
in vain, "and spent their strength for naught." Yet, 
though sadly mortified, they were not disheartened. 
The correspondence of many of those illustrious men 
with General Washington at this period is full of inter- 
est. They expressed their reliance on Divine aid in 
upholding a nation which had been so miraculously 
preserved, and, notwithstanding the dark aspect of af- 
fairs, their confidence in the intelligence and energy of 
the people to guard their independence with a vigilance 
surpassed only by the valour which achieved it. At 
length the sentiment became very general that a con- 
vention should be called to revise the articles of Confed- 
eration, and report the result of their deliberations on 
the then existing posture of our national affairs. Such 
a convention met accordingly in Philadelphia, in May, 
A.D. 1787, of which George Washington was president. 
Meanwhile, the spirit of insubordination had been quelled 
in New Hampshire and several other states, and the in- 
surrection in Massachusetts effectually put down by the 
military force of the state government; and the atten- 
tion of the whole Union was now directed with anxious 
-expectation to the concentrated wisdom of the several 



MISCELLANIES. 229 

States then imbodied in Philadelphia. That august as- 
sembly protracted their session to the month of Septem- 
ber, with little prospect of uniting in any useful result 
until near the close of that period, when, on motion of 
Dr. Franklin,* a chaplain was appointed to open the 
sitting each morning with prayer, a duty which had un- 
happily been omitted. He reminded the Convention 
that the room in which they sat was occupied by Con- 
gress during the darkest period of the Revolution, and 
never did that body meet a day without commencing 
with prayer. " If," said he, " a sparrow can not fall to 
the ground without the notice of our heavenly Father, 
can we expect an empire to rise without his aid ?" The 
entire speech was an unexpected and admirable display 
of native eloquence and undissembled piety. To the 
praise of Divine Grace be it said, a spirit of conciliation 
and mutual concession became immediately visible, and 
the beneficial result soon appeared in the draught of a 
National Constitution, which was presented to Congress, 
and by that body submitted to the several states for 
their ratification. In the state conventions, the same 
anti-Federal spirit which opposed the enlargement of 
the powers of Congress was now exhibited with in- 
creased acrimony against the adoption of the new Con- 
stitution. It was not accepted by Rhode Island and 
North Carolina, and encountered a violent opposition 
in the large states of Virginia and New York. In the 
latter, a large majority of the Convention was utterly 
hostile to its adoption. 

The state had established an impost for her exclusive 
benefit, by which the other states, and particularly Con- 
necticut and New Jersey, were made tributary to her 

* See Dr. Franklin's excellent speech in the Appendix to Pitkin's 
History of the United States. 



230 MISCELLANIES. 

custom-house. She was, therefore, strongly disposed 
to rely on her own resources, and let the other states 
take care of themselves. But while the Convention was 
near the close of the session, and obviously resolved to 
reject the proffered instrument, official intelligence prov- 
identially arrived that New Hampshire had adopted it, 
and [that] being the ninth state, the Constitution, agree- 
ably to one of its articles, was to go into immediate op- 
eration. This event, which produced a burst of joy 
through the country, and particularly in the city of New 
York, whose delegates, and those of West Chester, were 
the only Federalists in the Convention, was employed 
by Colonel Hamilton with such subduing effect as to 
produce a reluctant majority of three in favor of a rati- 
fication. Thus, during the year 1788, eleven states ac- 
cepted the Constitution. At the elections which follow- 
ed, the man whose wisdom and valour, by the blessing 
of God, had mainly achieved the deliverance of our 
country from colonial bondage, was unanimously chosen 
President of the United States, and the first Congress 
commenced its session in the city of New York, the 4th 
of March, A.D. 1789. To that illustrious body duties 
were assigned of no ordinary magnitude. Our national 
affairs, to human view, were nearly in a hopeless con- 
dition ; like the primeval elements of the earth, they 
were " without form and void, and darkness was upon 
the face" of them ; but the same glorious Being who 
said " let there be light, and there was light," directed 
the tried servants of the people to measures which, by 
a salutary course of operations, "brought light out of 
darkness," and " order out of confusion." A new organ- 
ization in every branch of the national service became 
indispensable, and it was accomplished so perfectly as 
to have hitherto escaped any material alteration amid 



MISCELLANIES. 231 

the political changes which have since occurred. The 
treasury department was confided to Alexander Hamil- 
ton, who, by his incomparable defense of the national 
Constitution on its first promulgation, was justly consid- 
ered the most accomplished statesman of the age. His 
reports on revenue and finance, on the agricultural, man- 
ufacturing, and commercial interests of the country, on 
the currency, on the publick debt, and the mode of fund- 
ing and of finally extinguishing it, by establishing a sink- 
ing fund of his own felicitous invention, are all monu- 
ments of political wisdom which may serve as models 
to future generations. Their effect on the publick mind, 
even before they were acted on by Congress, was au- 
spicious, and emphatically so when they were adopted. 
Publick securities, being the evidence of the publick debt, 
from a low state of depression rose at once above par 
value, and a healthful action pervaded the various occu- 
pations of society. The offices of the government were 
filled by men of talents and integrity, and without any 
intentional distinction of parties. In short, the affairs of 
the nation were in a prosperous train ; and it was hoped 
that the bitterness of party spirit would be mitigated, if 
not subdued, by the obvious amelioration in the circum- 
stances of the country. Vain hope ! Anti- Federalism 
sympathized with French Jacobinism^ earnestly contend- 
ing that our government should make common cause 
with our French allies. Loud was the clamor when 
President Washington expressed his disapprobation of 
Democratick societies in our country, which had become 
affiliated to those of Paris ; and still louder when he 
issued a proclamation of neutrality, although no meas- 
ure could have been more just or more beneficial in its 
consequences. Our neutral commerce became at once 
a source of incalculable profit to the nation, and so con- 



^32 MISCELLANIES. 

tinued throughout the entire period of the Federal ad- 
ministration, and until it was sacrificed to Mr. Jeffer- 
son's restrictive system at the instigation, or, as many 
believed, the mandate of Bonaparte. Not to dw^ell long- 
er on a subject which might fill volumes, what, it may 
be asked, did the Federal party accomplish for the ben- 
efit of our country, by the blessing of Heaven, although 
resisted by unqualified and unrelenting opposition ? 
Answer. 

The formation of a confederated Republick, by the 
adoption of a national Constitution. 

The organization of the government under that Con- 
stitution, and in a manner so perfect as to discourage 
any attempt to amend it. 

Provision for a permanent seat of the government, 
and the exclusive jurisdiction of the requisite territory. 

The establishment of a fiscal and revenue system ad- 
equate to the national exigencies, without laying any 
perceptible burden on the people. 

The punctual payment of the loan obtained from 
France and Holland during the Revolution. 

Ample provision for the final extinguishment of the 
debt, both of the general and state governments, incur- 
red by the Revolutionary War, and this through the 
operation of a sinking fund so admirably constituted, as 
that, by a process unperceived by the publick eye, not 
only has the debt of the Revolution been extinguished, 
but even the debts since contracted by the purchase of 
Louisiana, as well as the debt incurred by the late war 
with Great Britain. 

The establishment of a national bank, and, as a neces- 
sary consequence, a sound national currency. 

Encouragement of industry and the useful arts, in all 
their forms, by a judicious tariff. 



MISCELLANIES. 233 

Encouragement of the fisheries by suitable bounties. 

Protection of our carrying trade by a discriminating 
duty on foreign tonnage. 

Friendly relations formed with foreign nations and 
the Indian tribes. 

The forts and posts on our frontiers retained by the 
British in violation of the treaty of peace, surrendered, 
and articles unexecuted on our part settled by amicable 
adjustment. 

A navy auspiciously commenced, and a handsome 
provision for its enlargement. 

The government administered in all its branches and 
details with perfect fidelity, so that, on a thorough in- 
vestigation* by the following administration, not an in- 
dividual Federalist, clothed with an office of any grade 
whatever, was found a defaulter to the amount of a 
cent, or in any respect unfaithful to the trust reposed in 
him. 



PRELACY. 

If Prelacy was authorized by Jesus Christ or his 
apostles, have we not reason to believe the New Tes- 
tament would have contained explicit evidence of the 
fact, with rules to be observed in the selection of can- 
didates for such a distinction, and a specification of the 
peculiar duties attached to it? While particular di- 
rections, in these respects, are enjoined relative to the 
qualifications and choice of elders or bishops, a pro- 
found silence is maintained as to any such character as 
a Prelate or Diocesan Bishop. That so much caution 
should be required in the appointment of elders, and 

* By a committee of seven members, of whom one only was a Fed- 
eralist. What was their mortification to find the only defaulters were 
men of their own party, from Edmund Randolph downward ! ! 



234 MISCELLANIES. 

not a word said respecting their subjugation to any 
spiritual superiour other than the glorious Head of the 
Church, is satisfactory proof that no such superiour can 
rightfully exist. The apostles were essentially elders 
and teachers, aside from their capacity of witnesses of 
the Saviour's resurrection, and their miraculous or pre- 
ternatural gifts ; these were adjuncts to their office, di- 
vinely ordered to give effect to the first promulgation 
of the Gospel. Peter and John claim the title of elders; 
and Paul declares that Christ sent him " to preach the 
Gospel," and he styles himself a preacher, and an 
apostle, and teacher of the Gentiles. It is also re- 
corded that he was specially ordained to the office last 
mentioned jointly with Barnabas at Antioch, by the 
command of the Holy Ghost, and through the agency, 
not of any apostle, but of an ordaining council, com- 
posed of prophets and teachers then in that city, who, 
" having fasted and prayed, laid their hands on them, 
and sent them away." Paul and Barnabas, thus com- 
missioned and sent forth, entered upon the scene of 
their labours, and ordained elders in every city ; wher- 
ever converts to Christianity had associated together 
as a church, they were thus supplied with elders, who, 
we may fairly presume, were men of their choice. 
Timothy was ordained an elder or teacher hy the lay- 
ing on of the hands of the Presbytery. Paul, who also 
officiated as one of the elders on that occasion, remind- 
ed him of the transaction as an incentive to exemplary 
diligence and faithfulness in the discharge of his min- 
isterial duties, conveying, at the same time, to every 
unprejudiced reader the impression that ordination by 
elders was the usual and legitimate method of induc- 
tion to that sacred office. That Titus, also, was thus 
ordained, may be safely inferred from his performing 



MISCELLANIES. 235 

the services of an elder, as both he and Timothy ex- 
ercised the ordaining power in numerous instances. 
A late advocate for Prelacy has asserted that Timothy 
and Titus w^ere appointed by the apostles their suc- 
cessors, and that they acted as such in these cases. 
How ? " Nemo est hseres viventis." How could the 
apostles have successors when they were in the full 
exercise of their office ? Will it be pretended that the 
apostles could add to their own number ? Surely ei- 
ther supposition is preposterous. And, in truth, what 
can be more absurd than the pretence of an " apostol- 
ical succession?" The apostles were distinguished 
from other presbyters and teachers solely by their tes- 
timony to the resurrection of the Saviour, and the gift 
of tongues and miracles, neither of which could be the 
subject of inheritance, succession, or of transfer in any 
mode whatever ; they were absolutely inalienable. 
The conclusion is irresistible that the apostles could 
have no successors other than in the capacity of elders 
or teachers ; and it is worthy of special notice, that 
the final command of our Lord, " Go ye and teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," w^as addressed to 
the apostles emphatically as teachers, and extended to 
all others who should thereafter sustain the office of 
elder or teacher in every succeeding age of the Church. 
The command was accompanied with the declaration, 
" Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the 
world :" not that the declaration imported a promise 
that their existence in the flesh should be commensu- 
rate with the duration of the world, much less did it 
hold out a lure to ambition, by assuring them of pre- 
eminence over a subordinate priesthood. No, it was 
the cheering promise of his divine aid in the discharge 



236 MISCELLANIES. 

of their arduous duties, they knowing full well what 
would be the final and glorious result of their fidelity. 
That the apostles thus understood their ascending Sav- 
iour, is evident from the whole tenour of their official 
conduct and demeanour; for, although there were "di- 
versities of gifts" and "of operations," they were all 
under the guidance of " the same spirit." Consider 
their exalted devotion, their unwearied labours in word 
and doctrine, and their unassuming deportment toward 
all engaged with them in the furtherance of the Gos- 
pel. Mark the courtesy of Paul ; for although, if oc- 
casion required, he could " reprove sharply" " for edi- 
fication," yet his brotherly kindness to those employed 
with him in the same glorious cause, styling them his 
fellow- workers, and claiming no ascendency, is worthy 
of all praise, as is the noble and independent spirit 
with which, on emergency, he could supply his wants 
by the labour of his hands. Observe, also, the address 
of Peter to the elders, not in the authoritative tone of 
a superior, but with fraternal exhortation as a co-pres- 
byter, being himself " also an elder." Nor can we 
overlook the humiUty and meek benevolence of John, 
" the beloved disciple." Indeed, the apostles manifest- 
ed no pride of office ; they exacted from no one either 
fealty or homage, in obedience to the Saviour's precept, 
" Be not ye called Rabbi, for one is your Master, even 
Christ, and all ye are brethren ;" language than which 
none could more strongly express the parity of the 
ministers of the Gospel, or more effectually annihilate 
all claim to any degree of prelatical superiority. 

Thus, from a review of Gospel history, it is obvious 
that the functions of preaching, and of ordaining oth- 
ers to preach, were performed by men, whether apos- 
tles or others, in the character of elders and teachers ; 



MISCELLANIES. 237: 

and we shall be sustained by the best commentators in 
saying that the four-and-twenty Elders (presbuteroi), 
who, in the vision of the Apostle John, surrounded the 
throne of God, were representatives of the Church 
militant under both dispensations, in the glorified as- 
sembly of the Church triumphant. 

In conclusion, allow me to observe, that the careful 
reader of ecclesiastical history, subsequent to the age 
of the apostles, will readily discover the origin and 
trace the gradual advancement of Prelacy. He will 
perceive clerical, like political ambition, leading its as- 
pirants on with enticing prospects from year to year, 
and, I might say, from century to century, until the 
fourth, when, under the auspices of Constantine, it at- 
tained the elevation of an intimate union with imperial 
authority. For its progress to a final consummation, 
recourse may be had to the chronicles of the Vatican. 

Painful, indeed, is the reflection that a reformed 
Church should profess to uphold, on Scripture testi- 
mony, an institution which constitutes at least one item 
in the catalogue of papistical innovations. 

A Layman. 

N.B. — Why is it that a diocesan of the Episcopal 
Church, in ordaining a priest, calls two or more of his 
presbyters to lay their hands also on the candidate? 
Is it not an unequivocal acknowledgment that their 
authority to ordain is equal to his, or is it mere cere- 
mony, and, of course, the desecration of a solemn or- 
dinance ? 

March 13. 1844. 



238 MISCELLANIES. 



September, 1842. 

A SHORT COLLOQUY BETWEEN AN EPISCOPALIAN AND A 
NE IV SCHOOL CONGREGATIONALIST. 

A. Will you oblige me with a perusal of the Confes- 
sion of Faith adopted by the church of which you are 
pastor ? 

B. The Bible is our only rule of faith and practice. 

A. Ah ! then you are not connected with any par- 
ticular denomination. Suppose, now, you should ''con- 
form" to your old Mother Church ; her Articles and 
Liturgy fully acknowledge the Holy Scriptures as the 
only foundation of our faith and hope. She will be 
happy to receive you to her communion. 

B. Although a bishop myself, I am not an Episco- 
palian, in your sense of that term. 

A. Do you say you are a bishop, and yet subscribe 
to no specifick creed ? 

B, What can be more specifick, as well as compre- 
hensive, than the confession I have already mentioned ? 

A. Comprehensive indeed it is, in one respect ; for 
it comprehends every Protestant sect in Christendom, 
inasmuch as all avow the Bible to be their rule of faith; 
but if considered as a criterion by which to distinguish 
the various classes of nominal Christians, it is far from 
being specifick. I take it, a creed is merely an epitome 
of doctrines contained in the Bible, serving as a sym- 
bol of union to those who entertain similar views of 
those doctrines, and forming likewise a test of admis- 
sion to their fellowship — a measure which seems indis- 
pensable, since that blessed volume has been subjected 
to such a diversity of interpretation. But I had sup- 
posed you, until now, to be the minister of what is 
called "a consociated church." 



MISCELLANIES. 239 

B, And you supposed truly, for so I am. 

A. How is this ? I have seen your "Platform," and 
it requires you not only to acknowledge the Bible as 
your, rule of faith, but, to entitle you to admission as a 
member of the Consociation, you are expected also to 
"own" one of the following creeds "to be agreeable" 
to that Divine standard, to wit, either the Confession 
prefixed to the Platform, or the Doctrinal Articles of the 
Church of England, or the Westminster Confession, or 
the Confession agreed on at the Savoy. Now which 
of these four confessions did you "own" "to be agree- 
able" to the Holy Scriptures ? 

B. " The first is not our rule, iii distinction from the 
others named ; and the Bible, in distinction from all 
these, is our only rule of faith." 

A. Then, as your language plainly imports, you dis- 
card all and each of the specified confessions ; conse- 
quently, you have no organic form to distinguish you 
from other sects — no bond of union which can avail to 
constitute your churches and societies religious corpo- 
rations, with their legal advantages, or which may 
serve as a requisite test of admission to their commun- 
ion, if communion there can be without organization. 
I am confident that all your churches are not liable to 
such an " unworthy imputation." But pray inform 
me, sir, how you obtained ordination without express- 
ing your assent to the interpretation of the Word of 
God contained in some one of those confessions ? 

B, You are rather more particular in your interrog- 
atories than is desirable. I hope, however, it will sat- 
isfy you to be informed that the only assent required is 
"for substance of doctrine." 

A. Is it possible ? Who decides what is, or what is 
not, substance of doctrine, the examiner or the can- 



240 MISCELLANIES. 

B. The latter, undoubtedly ; otherwise there might 
be no escape from a rigorous inquisition. 

A. Surely nothing could be more unsatisfactory or 
more deceptive than such an assent. Under the sweep- 
ing generalities you have mentioned, how easily may 
a ministerial candidate of grossly latitudinarian princi- 
ples obtrude himself upon an unsuspecting parish, and 
poison it with his heresy, while he subsists, it may be, 
upon a fund expressly consecrated to the support of 
evangelical truth ! It is not wonderful that some of 
your churches are infested with pestilent doctrines. 
I lament that there should be the least departure from 
the pure principles of the fathers of New England ; 
for, much as I love my own church, I can not withhold 
from those godly men my profound veneration. While 
I regret their severance from the Anglican Church, I ver- 
ily believe it proceeded from upright motives. Their 
adherence to the doctrinal articles of that church re- 
mained unshaken to the last ; and I am happy to per- 
ceive an express recognition of them by their success- 
ors, the framers of the Saybrook Platform. In short, 
it is my solemn conviction, that to the enlightened and 
elevated views of the Puritans as a body, in relation 
to the reciprocal duties of rulers and subjects, must be 
attributed no small portion of the boasted freedom of 
Britain, and the very existence, as well as aggrandize- 
ment, of our American Confederacy. I hope, there- 
fore, to be pardoned for testifying my respect for their 
civil and religious institutions, and my sincere concern 
for their preservation. 

B. I thank you, sir, for the favourable opinion of those 
good men which you so freely express. If they had 
lived, however, at this period of the world, they might 
have been imbued with "the spirit of the age," much 
to their advantage. 



MISCELLANIES. 241 

A. The "spirit" to which I presume you allude is 
not new. It appeared in the days of Augustine, as 
well as at different periods since ; for, like certain bod- 
ies which visit the planetary system, it is not only er- 
ratic in its course, but nearly periodical in its visita- 
tions, " perplexing" churches " with fear of change," 
at least as often as once in a century. If I may ex- 
tend the figure, it was in its perihelion in President 
Clapp's day ; and that eminently pious astronomer fa- 
voured the world with a pamphlet accurately describing 
all the phenomena which then attended its appearance. 
Suffer me to state, briefly, some of the characteristicks 
of that spirit, as described by him. In the first place, 
the man infected with it was exercised with an uncon- 
querable aversion to creeds and confessions, and de- 
clared the whole Bible to be his only rule of faith ; to 
avoid embarrassment, however, he would " consent to 
the substance of a catechism or confession^ He main- 
tained that man is born into the world in as perfect a 
state of rectitude as Adam was at his creation ; that 
he is not obliged to conform to any standard of moral 
perfection other than the pursuit of his own interest 
and happiness ; that sin consists entirely in his not 
pursuing his own interest, for the only criterion of duty 
to God is self-interest ; that it is absurd to suppose that 
God should im.plant grace or hohness in any man, or 
keep him from sinning, as it would interfere with his 
free agency, and the free and self-determining power 
of the will ; that the actions of moral agents can be 
neither virtuous, vicious, nor free, unless they are done 
by a man's own power, nor unless he has the power 
to do the contrary ; and that the happiness of the crea- 
ture is the sole end of the creation. 

Whether any, and what resemblance this descrip- 
L 



242 MISCELLANIES. 

tion may bear to the spirit of the age, is referred to 
the decision of your own observation and experience. 
It would seem incredible that the human intellect 
could be so perverted as to deduce such sentiments 
from the Holy Scriptures ; and it shows how liable to 
suspicion is the pompous profession of the Bible as 
the rule of faith, to the exclusion of any and every 
epitome of Divine truth hitherto adopted by evangel- 
ical churches. 

B. As I am not disposed to engage in religious dis- 
putation, you will excuse me from replying to your 
remarks. 



EEMARKS ON A CONCIO AD CLERUM. 
[ To the Editor of the Watchman."] 

Sir, — In a late number of your valuable paper, a brief 
notice was taken of three of " the causes of disunion" 
stated by the preacher of the Concio ad Clerum, at the 
late Commencement in Yale College. Will you allow 
me to submit a few remarks upon the two remaining 
causes assigned by him on that occasion? They are, " a 
neglect to cultivate the spirit of the Bible," and "the 
true principle of Christian liberty, practically too much 
overlooked." 

" The spirit of the Bible" is pronounced by the preach- 
er to be "a moral temper of spirit." Now, is this phrase 
a mere pleonasm, or does it belong to the nomenclature 
of the new theology, and convey a meaning which none 
but the initiated understand? Whatever may be its 
import, the preacher complains that it has given place 
to " a disproportionate attention to doctrinal knowledge" 
to too much discussion and speculation, and the main- 
tenance of" an exact and rigorous orthodoxy." Whence 



MISCELLANIES. 243 

has all this arisen ? Did he imagine the Christian pub- 
lic had lost the power of recollection ? Is it necessary 
to inform him that for nearly fifty years no portion of 
Christendom enjoyed more perfect union, or exhibited, 
in a higher degree, the loveliness of the Christian char- 
acter, than the consociated churches of Connecticut, 
until a teacher acquired unenviable celebrity by his 
memorable Concio ad Clerum ? until doctrines were 
revived which had risen up and were put down more 
than twelve hundred years before, and the revival of 
which was accompanied with the same duplicity and 
evasion which marked their first introduction, and which 
were practiced with such success as to deceive, for a 
time, even Augustine himself? It would seem that the 
Concio ad Clerum, of pure and peaceful origin, has be- 
come the tocsin of discord, and is now brought out to 
sustain its predecessor by bewailing disunion, dispara- 
ging doctrinal knowledge, and denouncing a rigorous or- 
thodoxy. But a faithful ministry will not be diverted 
from their work by artifices of any kind. They clearly 
perceive the day has arrived foretold by the apostle, 
when men *' will not endure sound doctrine" and when, 
of course, it is the solemn duty of the watchmen of Zion 
to " speak the things which become sound doctrine" and 
" by sound doctrine to exhort and convince gainsayers." 
To decry doctrinal knowledge is the resort of error- 
ists of every name, especially of such as wrangle for 
human sufficiency, and against the strictness of the Di- 
vine law and the sovereignty of its Author. But, Mr. 
Editor, there is harmony in the truths of the Gospel, a 
commune vinculum, a connection so intimate that no 
one doctrine can be withdrawn from the system with- 
out impairing, if not destroying, the beauty and symme- 
try of the whole. Strike out, for example, the doctrine 



244 MISCELLANIES. 

of original sin, as defined in the Westminster Catechism, 
and as denounced by the preacher, and what is the 
consequence but the necessary fall of the doctrine of 
the atonement also ? For, if man is not born a sinner, 
■when does he become so 1 Is it answered, " When he 
transgresses a positive law ?" I ask. What is the earli- 
est age in which this may be done ? " We do not 
know," is the reply. Being, then, a free agent, with- 
out moral stain, why may he not continue such ? For 
if, as the new-school men alledge, he is able, by his own 
efforts, to renovate himself in case he does transgress, 
why, by an equal exercise of power, may he not avoid 
transgression, retain his native innocence, and thus 
render any atonement unnecessary? He assuredly 
may, upon this theory ; and hence, it is believed, ev- 
ery nominal section of the Christian Church who have 
denied the doctrine of original and total depravity, 
have also, with lamentable consistency, rejected the 
doctrine of the expiatory sacrifice of Jesus Christ. For 
what can be more preposterous than to suppose that 
glorious Being would offer his life a contingent ransom 
for creatures who might or might not become sinners ! 
Vain is the attempt to escape from this dilemma by 
talking about " evil tendencies" and " evil propensi- 
ties." None such can exist but in evil natures, nor 
does either Scripture or reason admit that there can be 
an intermediate state between innocence and sin, be- 
tween purity and impurity in moral beings. The 
preacher and his friends may try to conceal the naked 
fact by declaiming against " physical depravity," "con- 
created sin," with other epithets 

" of learned length and thundering sound ;" 

Still, the humbling truth will remain, clearly revealed 
in the Word of God, justly defined in our Confession of 



MISCELLANIES. 245 

* 

Faith, fully confirmed by human experience, and hap- 
pily expressed by the great Christian poet, in language 
which every individual of our race may adopt, 

" I from the stock of Adam came, 
Unholy and unclean ; 
All my original is shame, 
And all my nature sin." 

Thanks be to God, a fountain is set open in which 
all this impurity may be washed away ! In a word, 
we are assured from the highest authority that doc- 
trinal knowledge may be rendered the infallible test 
of truth. " If any man," says the Saviour, " will do his 
will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of 
God." Let the faithful pastor, then, " reprove, rebuke, 
exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine,'' in the con- 
fident expectation that " his labour will not be in vain in 
the Lord ;" that " the fruit will be unto holiness, and the 
end everlasting life." 

It must be acknowledged, Mr. Editor, that a fearful 
spirit of innovation is disturbing the tranquillity, as well 
as sullying the purity, of the Christian Church. The 
moral darkness which has overspread the country that 
gave birth to Luther, and was erst illumined by the 
first rays of his mighty genius, is extending its lurid in- 
fluence to our own. While the tinsel of German liter- 
ature has dazzled the eyes, the pestilent dogmas of 
German theology have poisoned the minds, of not a few 
of our countrymen. Especially are these effects visi- 
ble in more than one of our theological seminaries in 
New England, and in no small number of her minis- 
ters and churches. Unless the God of our fathers 
shall interpose, the fairest inheritance which any peo- 
ple under heaven have derived from a pious and mag- 
nanimous ancestry, is in danger of utter desolation. 



246 MISCELLANIES. 

Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep 
between the porch and the altar, and let them say, 
Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thy herit- 
age TO REPROACH. 



DIVORCE. 
[ To the Editor of the Congregationalist. ] 

Sir, — Your efforts to awaken publick attention to the 
alarming facility with which Divorces are granted in 
this State, entitle you to the thanks of the religious, 
and, I may add, the patriotick portion of your fellows- 
citizens, composing, I should hope, a majority of the 
Commonwealth. I was not aware until lately that our 
General Assembly had multiplied divorces to such an 
unprecedented extent, that the practice had even 
grown up into a system, so that a rule has been adopt- 
ed for the appointment, at the beginning of each ses- 
sion, of a Joint Standing Committee on Divorces ; that 
is, in effect, a committee to report " the ways and 
means" by which the most sacred of all human ties 
may be dissolved. No doubt the business of the com- 
mittee will increase in a duplicate ratio from session 
to session. Their report will furnish a scale by which 
matrimonial discord may be graduated, and the dis- 
contented and the dissolute in married life enabled to 
calculate with sufficient exactness, to what height do- 
mestick broils must be carried to insure a final separa- 
tion by legislative interposition. Who does not see 
the fatal tendency of such a course, and that, if pur- 
sued, it will, in the end, not only poison the fountain 
of domestick enjoyment, but sunder all the relations 
that constitute the social state ? And who can rise 
from the contemplation of this most painful subject 



MISCELLANIES. 247 

without being fully impressed with the wisdom, as 
well as the authority of the divine precept, "What 
God hath joined together, let not man put asunder ?" 

I was present, sir, when the eloquent and powerful 
sermon of the late President Dwight was delivered, to 
which you have referred. It was not the main object 
of the preacher, if I rightly remember, to censure the 
General Assembly for adjudicating in cases of divorce, 
as comparatively few instances of such an interference 
had then occurred, although that body did not wholly 
escape animadversion ; but it appeared to be his chief 
purpose to condemn the latitude of the existing statute, 
and to urge the expediency of so modifying it as to 
restrict a dissolution of the conjugal relation, when le- 
gally formed, to the case, and the only case, in which 
the Saviour of the world has permitted it to be done by 
any human authority whatever. A strong and visible 
impression was made upon the minds of the members 
by the president's unanswerable appeal to their intel- 
ligence and patriotism. Many, and, I confess, myself 
of the number, who had previously justified the law, 
avowed their conviction that it ought to be amended 
by adopting the proposed limitation ; but the session 
being near its close, the subject was not then taken up, 
and, unfortunately, escaped further notice amid the 
political agitations which preceded the adoption of the 
present Constitution. Since that event, so far from 
modifying the obnoxious statute, it would seem the Leg- 
islature is endeavouring to outstrip the courts of law 
in the ungracious employment of annulling the most 
inviolable of all contracts. 

That a free allowance of polygamy and divorce, or 
either of them, has been the precursor of national ruin, 
is the melancholy testimony of all history, sacred and 



248 MISCELLANIES. 

profane. More than five hundred years elapsed from 
the foundation of Rome before an instance of the lat- 
ter occurred, and the growing frequency of the prac- 
tice that soon followed, led, in the opinion of the 
learned Puffendorf, to that corruption of morals which 
was the true cause of the decline and fall of the Ro- 
man Empire. But that a professedly Christian com- 
munity should openly transgress a precept of the Sav- 
iour so clearly and unequivocally pronounced, at the 
risk of incurring the awful retribution with w^hich na- 
tional sins, sooner or later, are sure to be visited, must 
be ascribed either to deplorable misapprehension, or 
to the most daring presumption. I know it is said 
that the precept should be considered as " drawn" 
from the Saviour rather than as a free expression of 
his views, whereas it is a constituent portion of his 
Sermon on the Mount, and no one injunction of that 
perfect code of morals is more explicit in its terms, no 
one which more deeply affects the individual and so- 
cial interests of man, no one the violation of which 
will more certainly provoke the righteous judgments 
of Heaven. 

Cases may undoubtedly arise in which husband and 
wife ought to be separated ; without the liberty, how- 
ever, of forming another matrimonial alliance, except 
in the solitary instance authorized by the Saviour. If 
the parties will quarrel, separate them from " bed and 
board" with no prospect of legally forming a new 
connection, and how rarely would the remedy be 
sought? Let the law of the land be thus modified, 
and a more powerful pacificator of domestick feuds 
could scarcely be devised. Provocations deemed in- 
tolerable under the present lax system, would lose 
much of that character under the proposed modifica- 



MISCELLANIES. 249 

ion, and be followed, it is believed, by a spirit of mu- 
ual forbearance and concession ; for it is impossible 
to conceive of a stronger incentive to a disregard of 
the marriage vow than the facility which the present 
law and legislative indulgence afford for dissolving 
that relation. 

There is an evident departm-e from the divine law 
upon this subject both in England and in Connecticut, 
and, what is not a little singular, the departure is in 
opposite directions. In England, the divorce a vincu- 
lo matrimonii, or " from the bond of matrimony," is al- 
lowed for no cause whatever arising subsequently to 
the marriage, not even for adultery, but the divorce a 
mensa et thoro, or separation from "bed and board," is 
permitted ; while in this state the law recognizes 
adultery* and three other grounds as sufficient on 
which to decree a total separation, and makes no pro- 
vision for the divorce a mensa et thoro. It ought, how- 
ever, to be observed, that only one of the causes re- 
cited in our act can be said to militate against the di- 
vine law, and that is "three years willful desertion, 
with total neglect of duty ;" for as to " fraudulent con- 
tract," and " seven years' absence not heard of," the 
act is, in effect, merely declaratory, that in the former 
case no legal marriage had ever existed, being void 
from the beginning ; in the latter, that the lapse of time 
shall be deemed presumptive evidence of the death of 
the absent party ; accordingly, our courts have decided 
that no formal decree of divorce is necessary in the 
latter case in order to legalize a second marriage. 

The allowance of a divorce, or, more properly speak- 
ing, a separation from bed and board, so far from im- 

* Adultery as defined by the common law, and notin the restricted 
sense of the statute for the punishment of that offense. 



250 MISCELLANIES. 

pugning the divine law, as one of your correspondents 
has alledged, is in accordance with the recommenda- 
tion of the apostle, 1 Cor., vi., and is a measure at 
once preventive of evil, and highly remedial where 
evil exists. Barbeyrac, indeed, considers the chapter 
just cited as authorizing a total divorce in case of 
" willful desertion ;" and it is not improbable that the 
original framers of our statute unwittingly adopted his 
construction, although the apostle expressly directs 
that the party shall remain unmarried or be reconciled. 
At any rate, by no fair interpretation does he authorize, 
in the case there under consideration, a dissolution of 
the nuptial contract so as to render either party again 
marriageable ; nor can it be presumed that the apos- 
tle had the remotest design to abrogate a positive pre- 
cept of his Divine Master. 

The alterations, then, which seem desirable in the 
existing statute, are, first, to strike out from the first 
section the clause, " willful desertion for three years, 
with total neglect of duty ;" and, secondly, to add a 
section authorizing the Superior Court to decree a 
*' separation from heel and board" for desertion, and 
such other causes as to the wisdom of the Legislature 
shall seem proper, with the requisite regulation re- 
specting alimony ; thus transferring the whole power 
on this subject to the proper tribunal, and confining the 
authority to declare the marriage contract dissolved 
to the cases specified in the first section, when amend- 
ed, and to those only. 

Having, in this manner, provided for a dissolution 
of the conjugal relation when alone it is allowable, 
and invested a court of law with power, in suitable 
cases, to decree the divorce a mensa et thoro, the mem- 
bers of the Legislature will not only have exonerated 



MISCELLANIES. 251 

themselves from a burdensome and perilous responsi- 
bility, but will have manifested their deep concern for 
the interest and honour of the state, and, what is more, 
their reverence for the precepts of that glorious Being, 
who has so freely bestowed upon us, as a people, the 
inestimable blessings we enjoy. 



THE SLAVERY QUESTION. 
[_To the Editor of the Watchman.'] 

Sir, — It is the remark of a distinguished author, that 
" if a writer were gravely to demonstrate that the sun 
shines in a cloudless day, he would beget a doubt in 
the mind of his reader, if not an attempt to refute his 
argument." No one listens patiently to labored proofs 
of a self-evident proposition, and if vituperation be 
added withal, any thing but conviction will be the re- 
sult. Such, it is believed, has been too much the 
course of the "Anti-slavery Society." They have in- 
sulted our understandings at the North by officious at- 
tempts to enlighten us on the subject of the abstract 
rights of man, and their violation in the person of the 
Southern slave. They have offered to the slaveholder 
of the South, not only the same indignity, but have 
superadded charges of some of the blackest crimes to 
be found in the records of human guilt. What are the 
effects thus far ? Not the liberation of a single slave ; 
on the contrary, the riveting of chains which in many 
instances we have reason to believe were ready to fall 
off: not the conversion of a single slaveholder to their 
views ; on the contrary, a disposition is engendered to 
defend the strange paradox, that the perfection of the 
social state consists in the combination of political lib- 



252 MISCELLANIES. 

erty ivith domestick slavery ! Would such a preposter- 
ous doctrine have ever entered the mind of an indi- 
vidual at the South, if he were not driven to it. by the 
indiscretion, not to say infatuation, of our pseudo- 
reformers ? Never. 

Let us look for a moment at the measures adopted 
by the society to remove the curse of slavery, which 
lies so heavily on our country. What efforts do they 
put forth ? In the first place, a levy upon the publick 
of some forty thousand dollars in a single year. For 
what purpose ? Is it to redeem the children of bond- 
age, as far as the sum will go ? No ; it is to prepare 
and disseminate publications touching the horrors of 
slavery, and to send forth agents and missionaries. 
Send them whither ? Is it to the South, to preach re- 
pentance to the slaveholder ; to entreat him, by all that 
is tender in humanity and sacred in religion, to " let the 
oppressed go free ?" No ; these modern missionaries, 
male and female, possess little of the spirit of the apos- 
tles, and still less of that of the martyrs ; no, they are 
to keep at a safe distance in the North, to hurl indeed 
denunciations at the South, but chiefly to occupy them- 
selves in disabusing their fellow-citizens of their prejudi- 
ces, in demonstrating that there is really no fundament- 
al distinction between " black and white ;" that the tri- 
fling difference perceptible should be nobly disregard- 
ed, and, in short, wholly merged in a free and generous 
amalgamation. It also appears to be the special duty 
of these agents or missionaries to perform regular cir- 
cuits through the non-slaveholding states ; to enforce 
these doctrines by appropriate harangues; to exem- 
plify them by a publick and familiar commixture with 
the colored race ; to establish a sort of political inqui- 
sition, by which the candidate for popular suffrage 



MISCELLANIES. 253 

shall, as he would avoid their displeasure, attest his 
loyalty to their principles ; and, finally, to bear pa- 
tiently the scoffs of an indignant community, and look 
with composure on the too certain consequences of 
their labours, in the disturbance of the publick peace 
by riotous assemblages, and the lawless destruction of 
property and of life. Now, however pure may be the 
views of the society, who does not see that the direct 
tendency of their measures can be no other than to 
perpetuate the bondage of the blacks, to sow dissen- 
sion between the North and the South, and ultimately 
to sever the fraternal ties which so happily unite us as 
one people ? 

Is there, then, it may be asked, no remedy for the 
enormous evil of slavery ? I answer, yes. If we are 
inclined to " do justly," as well as " love mercy," the 
remedy is within our reach. Let it be borne in mind, 
that " we, the people of the United States," have all 
participated, in a greater or less degree, at the North 
as well as at the South, in the practice of holding the 
African race in bondage. Our national Constitution, 
in covert but intelligible language, recognizes a right 
of property in slaves ; provides for the return of fugi- 
tives to their owners ; makes this species of property 
a qualified basis of representation in Congress ; ren- 
ders the master liable for taxes thereon ; and, finally, 
through our representatives, we, the people, have ac- 
tually augmented, as occasion required, the national 
revenue from this very source. It is too late, then, 
for the national government, if it possessed the power, 
to tell the acknowledged proprietors of this taxable 
property to surrender it at once, without any remu- 
neration whatever. No government professing to be 
actuated by the principles of distributive justice could 



254 MISCELLANIES. 

do it ; nay, not an individual possessed of honesty or 
honour would give his assent to such a measure. The 
British Parliament, although unlimited in power, was 
incapable of doing its colonial subjects the palpable in- 
justice of liberating their slaves without adequate com- 
pensation. While the American Congress is abun- 
dantly able to remunerate the slaveholder, a question 
may arise whether it is clothed with sufficient author- 
ity to coerce his acceptance of a compromise. That 
the offer, however, would be accepted, if made, there 
can be little doubt. My word for it, the patriotism of 
the South would, in that case, promptly respond to the 
justice of the North. In the first place, then, has Con- 
gress power to make the offer ? " To provide for the 
puhlick welfare' is one of the specified objects of the 
Federal government. I ask, without fear of an an- 
swer in the negative, whether a case can be imagined 
which more vitally concerns the welfare of this Union 
than the abolition of slavery ? Could Congress, in the 
exercise of that beneficence which ought to character- 
ize a Christian nation, grant to the unfortunate people 
of Caraccas the means of repairing, in some measure, 
the desolations of an earthquake, and has it no power 
to relieve our own country from the effects of a still 
more dreadful scourge ? Is it objected by some high- 
ly sensitive abolitionist, that the proposed redemption 
would be nothing less than governmental traffick in 
slaves ? An answer to such an objection will be in 
season, when the Parliament of Great Britain shall be 
condemned for a similar traffick, and our own govern- 
ment for a similar redemption of American citizens 
from Algerine and Tripolitan slavery. 

Secondly, Have we the means of compensating the 
slaveholders ? I answer, yes, abundant means, and 



MISCELLANIES. 255 

more than sufficient, from the avails of our national 
domain. To no conceivable purpose could that fruit- 
ful source of future collision be more beneficially ap- 
plied. Two evils would be removed at once : the in- 
cubus of slavery, and the " apple of discord" between 
the old and the new states. And, in truth, can it be 
more or less than sound policy, as well as substantial 
justice, that a grievous calamity, which we have all, in 
some degree, contributed to incur, should, under the 
smiles of divine Providence, be taken wholly out of 
the way by one united and patriotic oblation on the 
altar of our country's peace and safety ? 

What disposition should be made of the slaves, when 
liberated, is a consideration which belongs to the de- 
tails rather than to the main object of the measure. 
In my humble opinion, the choice should be given 
them, either of returning to their native land in our 
national vessels, under the auspices of the Colonization 
Society, or of remaining as free operatives in their 
present location, where, I verily believe, they would 
prove more useful than ever to their former owners, 
who, in return, I doubt not, would reward their fidelity 
by studiously promoting their present and future hap- 
piness. 

Such, sir, are the impressions, briefly and imperfect- 
ly expressed, of an aged citizen upon a most painful 
subject — a subject involving the highest interests 
and brightest hopes of this great republick. Having 
lived through the storm of the Revolution, and through 
scenes, since that eventful period, scarcely less peril- 
ous, I am brought to the solemn conviction that our 
existence as one nation has at no time been exposed 
to more imminent danger than at this very moment. 
Our deliverance, under God, must be achieved by de- 



256 MISCELLANIES. 

cisive action, guided by a spirit of mutual concession ; 
in short, by the union of honest hearts and strong 
hands ; and we may then confidently trust that the 
glorious Being who has hitherto sustained us will 
crown our efforts with success. 



THE SLAVERY QUESTION— Cco«iin«e^;. 
[_To the Editor of the Northern Watchman.'] 

Sir, — I took up the closely-printed pamphlet of one 
hundred and twenty-five pages, entitled "Emancipation 
in the West Indies," in the hope of finding a full account 
of the measures which were adopted for the abolition of 
slavery in the British colonies. Sent out as were 
Messrs. Thome and Kimball, the special envoys of the 
American Anti-slavery Society, we had reason to ex- 
pect that, after a "six months' tour in Antigua, Barba- 
does, and Jamaica," these gentlemen would have pre- 
sented a mass of information on the subject of their 
mission sufficient to satisfy the most inquisitive reader. 
They give us, indeed, ample details of the civilities and 
hospitalities they experienced from all classes of the in- 
habitants, including the highest civil authorities, and es- 
pecially the " colored gentlemen," one of whom they 
pronounce " in every respect the noblest man, white 
or black, whom we met in the West Indies." They 
also assure us, what will be readily believed, that eman- 
cipation is hailed with equal joy by the master and the 
slave ; and they record, with apparent satisfaction, the 
tone of exultation assumed by the British residents on 
the occasion, and the severe terms in which they re- 
proached the United States for delaying the extirpation 
of slavery ; it never once occurring to our patriotic en- 
voys to remind these gentlemen that, but for the inter- 



MISCELLANIES. 257 

vention of the British crown when we were colonies, 
slavery would, in all probability, have ceased to exist 
among us long before we became an independent nation, 
and that British subjects, therefore, of all men, should be 
the last to condemn their American brethren for coun- 
tenancing the traffick in human flesh. Every philan- 
thropist must rejoice that Britain has at length yielded 
to the strong claims of justice and humanity, and that 
she now furnishes to all slaveholding communities an 
example eminently worthy of their imitation. It was 
under this impression that I looked earnestly through 
the pamphlet just mentioned for the act of Parliament 
abolishing slavery in their West Indian territories ; or, 
if not the entire act, at least such an abstract of its pro- 
visions as would afford a comprehensive view of the 
whole subject ; but I looked in vain. We find, indeed, 
a reference to the statute for the purpose of condemning 
the apprenticeship system, but no details touching the 
compensation awarded to the slaveholders, the manner 
of its distribution, or the valuation of the slaves for that 
purpose. In short, there is throughout a mysterious rcj 
serve in relation to the act of Parliament ; from which I 
infer, that neither in the preamble, nor in the body of the 
act, is the slave proprietor declared to be a " robber and 
worse than a robber."* If such had been its language, 
we should probably have seen the declaration displayed 
in very legible characters. I also infer that the Anti- 
slavery Society, under whose auspices the pamphlet is 
published, are opposed to the allowance of any indem- 
nity to their Southern brethren as a consideration for 

* See the letter recently published in the New York Obsen^er, from 
Gerrit Smith, Esq., to John Tappan, Esq., in which these very terms 
are applied to the Southern slaveholder. How many among us use the 
same language, whose fathers or whose grandfathers^ were just such 
robbers ! 



258 MISCELLANIES. 

liberating their slaves ; otherwise they would have ap- 
pended the British statute to the narrative, with a rec- 
ommendation to the people and government of the Uni- 
ted States to " go and do likewise." And, in truth, Mr. 
Editor, I have been both surprised and mortified at the 
utter silence, in this respect, of the numerous petitions 
which have been presented to Congress for the abolition 
of slavery within the District of Columbia. Even ex- 
President Adams, through whom they were chiefly of- 
fered, who must certainly be conscious of what is right, 
and is endowed, in a good degree, with the gift of utter- 
ance, has been profoundly taciturn upon the point in 
question. Most of all am I astonished that the softer 
sex, who owe so much of their loveliness to their nice 
moral sense, should have overlooked, in their memorials, 
the obvious duty of doing justice to the master, as well 
as of showing mercy to the slave. The ex-president 
possesses too much discernment not to perceive that the 
case is encompassed with difficulties ; that, from the plain 
import of the Constitution, Congress has no more power 
to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia than in 
any of the states of the Union. I am not about to deny 
that constructively, its power, in the case under consid- 
eration, extends to both the District and the States, but 
confident I feel that it can be exercised in neither upon 
any other principle than that of allowing a just remuner- 
ation to the slaveholder. The Constitution, as was ob- 
served in my former communication, recognizes the right 
of property in slaves, and guards it with strong remedial 
provisions. Whatever, therefore, may be the merits of 
the abstract question of right, the national councils are, 
in legal phrase, " estopped from averring any thing con- 
trary'' to the plain terms of the Constitution, and their 
own legislative enactments. The Constitution also de- 



MISCELLANIES. 259 

Glares, " Nor shall private property be taken for publick 
use without just compensation." The argument in the 
mouth of the slaveholder, then, is a short one, and as 
unanswerable as it is brief " The slaves upon my 
premises," he may say, " according to the Constitution 
and laws of the country, are my property, and, being 
such, may not be taken from me by the publick without 
just compensation ;" an argument which, in a parallel 
case, seems to have been allowed its full weight by a 
British Parliament. We come, then, to the conclusion, 
that if slavery is an evil — a great national evil, which 
no one can doubt, a national sacrifice will be required 
to remove it. What shall it be ? the sword ? the abo- 
lition of slavery by the extermination of both the slave 
and his master? Who does not shudder at the thought? 
Let it be done, then, say the abolitionists, by the Leg- 
islatures of the slaveholding states. But are not the 
states equally denied the power of releasing the slave 
without remunerating the owner ? Does not the same 
constitutional prohibition extend to them ? In a word, 
is not the right of property in slaves interwoven with 
their whole legal code ? Besides, the states separately 
are without resources adequate to the object. Nor can 
simultaneous action, which is here indispensable, be ex- 
pected from so many distinct Legislatures. Evidently, 
therefore, the whole matter should be referred to the 
national authorities, under their broad commission " to 
provide for the general welfare." No coercion would 
be necessary, even admitting it could be rightfully ex- 
ercised. The spirit of mutual concession — that noble 
spirit which has already done so much for the preser- 
vation of our Union, would at once enable the govern- 
ment to put this last finishing touch to the temple of lib- 
erty. Let Congress propose the measure to the states 



260' MISCELLANIES. 

concerned, with a pledge of the requisite funds, setting 
itself the example in the District of Columbia. The ap- 
plication of a portion of the national domain would, as 
heretofore suggested, be a peculiarly fit appropriation ; 
but it is wholly immaterial from what fiscal source the 
contribution is derived. I do not believe a very large 
sum would be required. Unless I am deceived in my 
estimation of our Southern brethren, the bare offer of 
the other states to do them justice in this momentous 
concern would be met with the magnanimity which 
forms so conspicuous a trait in their character. Not a 
moiety of the slaveowners probably would avail them- 
selves of the pecuniary allowance. They would rejoice 
rather in a fair and honourable opportunity of emancipa- 
ting themselves as well as their slaves, " without money 
and without price." No doubt many individuals have 
been restrained from pursuing this course, partly by 
legislative impediments, thrown in their way at home, 
but principally by the threats and denunciations which 
have been showered upon them in no stinted measure 
from abroad, from a quarter, too, whence they had a 
right to expect nothing but Christian courtesy and fra- 
ternal kindness. In short, sir, the great question of 
emancipation must be decided sooner or later, and the 
sooner the better. We can not escape from it. 

Let us, in the New England States, bless God that 
slavery, which existed here in a limited degree, was by 
legislative acts in a course of extinction before the adop- 
tion of the national Constitution. Let us remember that, 
in ratifying that instrument, we gave our assent to 

THE TOLERATION OF DOMESTICK SLAVERY AT THE SoUTH. 

If we erred, the error was committed solely from mo- 
tives of conciliation. Let us, in the same generous 
spirit, unite with our Southern brethren in expiating the 
crime, by blotting out the cause of it forever. 



MISCELLANIES. 261 



\_From the N. E. Puritan."] 

REMARKS ON PROFESSOR ROBINSON'S REVIEW OF DR. 
GRANT'S WORK ON THE TEN TRIBES. 

The Review by the Rev. Professor Robinson, lately 
pubhshed, of Dr. A. Grant's volume on " the Nesto- 
rians," is an elaborate attempt to overthrow the au- 
thor's theory concerning the " lost tribes of Israel." If 
I can not adopt the conclusion at which the reviewer 
has arrived, it is from no want of respect for his per- 
sonal character or his useful researches. The case 
presents a singular aspect. While the author professes 
to have found in the Nestorians a portion, at least, of 
the descendants of the " ten tribes," the reviewer, on 
the contrary, contends that they never were lost, but 
were safely restored from captivity to the land of their 
forefathers. If he is right, there is an end at once of 
the controversy, and of the solicitude manifested by 
the civilized world on the subject for a long succession 
of generations. Let us, then, in the first place, consid- 
er what evidence is adduced in support of his theory. 

There is an incipient and obvious errour, I apprehend, 
in the professor's calculation. He assumes that, at the 
final captivity of Israel under Shalmaneser, " a large 
body of the people" still remained. He has, therefore, 
overlooked the clear and unequivocal declaration of 
the sacred historian, 2 Kings, xvii., 18 : " Therefore 
the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed 
them out of his sight ; there was none left but the tribe of 
Judah only ;" meaning, no doubt, the kingdom of Ju- 
dah, including Benjamin and the Levites. If, after this 
strong language, we admit that any were left, their 
number, unless we do violence to the text, must have 



262 MISCELLANIES. 

been exceedingly small.* Of the few who were thus 
left, a part, or their descendants, in the pious reigns of 
Hezekiah and Josiah, probably united with their breth- 
ren of Judah in the worship of the true God, and ulti- 
mately accompanied them into captivity. It is worthy 
of particular notice, that each of the Assyrian mon- 
archs, Tiglathpileser and Shalmaneser, carried their 
captive Israelites to " Hala and Habor, by the river 
Gozan, and the cities of the Medes," territories in which 
is understood to be embraced the identical region now 
occupied by the Nestorians. The captives were allow- 
ed to hold lands, erect houses, and, in short, were per- 
mitted to enjoy the usual privileges of subjects. 

About one hundred and forty years after the captiv- 
ity of all Israel, and their establishment in Assyria, 
Nebuchadnezzar led Judah into captivity at three dif- 
ferent periods, the last in the reign of Zedekiah, when, 
so thorough was the removal, " none remained save the 
poorest sort of people, who were left to be vine-dress- 
ers and husbandmen." All these captives were car- 
ried to the province of Babylon^ far short of the re- 
mote location assigned to the Israelites. There could, 
consequently, have been little intercourse between 
them ; nor, after a separation of nearly one hundred and 
fifty years, added to their long prior hostility, could 
much of personal or national sympathy be presumed 
to exist. 

After seventy years of their captivity had elapsed, 
the proclamation of Cyrus was issued for the restora- 
tion of the captives taken by Nebuchadnezzar to their 
own land. Ezra informs us this measure was adopted 
in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah, which strict- 

* The nation had been gi-eatly reduced by previous captivities. 
— Jer., xxix. 



MISCELLANIES. 2G3 

ly confines the promised deliverance to "the people 
whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from 
Jerusalem to Babylon." Accordingly, the proclama- 
tion was limited to a single object, as was also that 
which was subsequently issued by Artaxerxes, and 
under which Ezra proceeded with his recruits to Jeru- 
salem. Nor does it by any means appear that all, or 
even a majority, of the captive Jews availed them- 
selves of the opportunity to revisit their native country 
for the purpose of repairing the desolations of Jerusa- 
lem and the Temple. And as to the ten tribes, no license 
to return was given them by either of the royal edicts, 
much less any assurance that any part of the territoiy 
of their forefathers would be restored to them. Nay, 
if permitted to depart, why would they abandon their 
comfortable establishments which they and their ances- 
tors had securely occupied for more than two hundred 
years, without the remotest prospect of improving their 
condition by a removal ? That Israelites taken cap- 
tive with the Jews might accompany them on their 
return, is not improbable ; Nehemiah, however, after 
setting apart, by lot, one tenth of the people to dwell 
at Jerusalem, says expressly, the rest " were in all the 
cities oi Judah, every one in his inheritance." Where 
is the evidence that an individual of the ten tribes was 
restored to his inheritance ? But, to remove all doubt 
on this point, contemplate the number of Israelitesf and 
Jews in Assyria and Babylon sixty or seventy years 
after, when Haman conspired against them, as record- 

* The appellatives Jews and Israelites were frequently confounded 
after the captivity. The discrimination, how^ever, w^ill be easily made, 
if understood as it ought to be, secundum suhjectam materiam. As Ju- 
dah was carried captive to Babylon, the term Jeios was there familiar- 
ly applied, particularly in the Book of Esther, to the whole twelve 
tribes. 



264 MISCELLANIES. 

eel in the Book of Esther. What must have been the 
number of their fighting men, when more than seven- 
ty-five thousand of their enemies were slain by their 
hands ? Certainly not less than one hundred thousand, 
and their entire population exceeding one million. 

I ask now for evidence of the return of this people 
to the land of their forefathers. None is stated by the 
reviewer. He has furnished conjectures, and suggest- 
ed probabilities, but as to proof, there is absolutely 
none that in my view deserves the name ; and it is 
the absence of all positive evidence respecting the act- 
ual condition of the ten tribes which has given rise to 
the epithet " lost," and the multiplied speculations con- 
cerning their probable destiny. The accurate and ju- 
dicious historian, Prideaux, expresses the opinion that 
the tribes remained in the location assigned to them by 
their conquerors, and, to a great extent, became amal- 
gamated with the neighbouring Gentile nations. 

Let us, in the next place, consider whether any and 
what light Dr. Grant has thrown upon a subject in- 
volved in so much darkness. It is not often that we 
meet with a more thrilling narrative than the account 
of his visit to the Independent Nestorians. Their pe- 
culiar situation, surrounded by implacable and sangui- 
nary foes, had strongly attracted the attention of our 
worthy missionaries at Ooroomiah, especially after a 
pressing invitation from their patriarch to visit them. 
Having at length obtained the sanction of the Pruden- 
tial Committee of the American Board, it was resolved 
that Dr. Grant should undertake the enterprise, beset, 
as it was, with dangers of no ordinary kind. Without 
taking any extraordinary measures for either his ac- 
commodation or defense, he went forth with the hu- 
mility of a primitive disciple and the fortitude of a mar- 



MISCELLANIES. 265 

tyr ; an example of heroick benevolence rarely witness- 
ed, happily illustrating the spirit of a Christian soldier, 
and the good providence of God in his preservation. 
The fearless missionary passed the territory of the fe- 
rocious Koords unhurt ; even hands red with the blood 
of Shulz were extended to him in kindness. By a most 
providential coincidence, a man whom the doctor had 
formerly healed of a grievous malady, presented him- 
self at this juncture to express his gratitude, and ten- 
der his services as a guide ; and thus, after a difficult 
and toilsome journey, the weary but joyful traveller 
reached the place of his destination in safety. A most 
cordial reception was given him by the whole popula- 
tion, and for several weeks he enjoyed the hospitality 
of the pious and venerable patriarch. Suffice it to say, 
he found in that sequestered region a better state of 
society than he had expected, and a purer Christianity 
than exists in any other part of Asia, as well as an 
earnest desire, on the part of clergy and laity, for en- 
larged means of intellectual improvement, and, above 
all, for copies of the Holy Scriptures in their vernacu- 
lar tongue. He ascertained, to his satisfaction, that 
the people are descendants of Israelites — a fact verified 
by immemorial and unbroken tradition, declared to be 
such by patriarch, priests, and laymen ; that their an- 
cestors were early converted to the Christian religion, 
and that they have maintained their independence 
through all the revolutions which have swept over 
every other part of Central Asia ; that this statement 
is confirmed by the Hebrews in their vicinity, who 
consider and pronounce the Nestorians as apostates 
from the Jewish religion, and, on that account, refuse 
to hold any communion or intercourse with them. In 
corroboration of this statement, the doctor adduces 

M 



266 MISCELLANIES. 

certain Israelitish usages and ceremonies as still ob- 
served by the Nestorians. In what light this latter 
species of evidence is regarded by the reviewer will 
presently appear. Let me now inquire, 

1st. What should induce any people, Christian or 
ipa.ga.n, falsely to assume the name and character of 
Jews or Israelites, a nation which, according to their 
own Scriptures, had become " a hissing and a re- 
proach," a sad monument of God's retributive just- 
ice ? Is it credible that a people of plain and unsophis- 
ticated manners, like these Nestorians, could be guilty 
of a deception so base and profitless, from any prin- 
ciple or motive which has ever influenced human 
conduct? 

2d. If the Nestorians are not of Hebrew descent, 
what could tempt the real Jews to declare them such, 
and treat them as apostates ? Can we resist the con- 
viction that they declare the truth ? 

3d. Immemorial tradition, uncontradicted by higher 
testimony, is sufficient evidence of national origin. To 
customs and prescriptions of such duration as that " the 
memory of man runneth not to the contrary, ^^ great re- 
spect is paid in all our systems of jurisprudence ; and 
if the question, whether the Nestorians are of Hebrew 
derivation, were submitted to an intelligent jury, with 
the evidence collected by Dr. Grant placed before 
them in a properly authenticated form, I am persuaded 
their verdict would be in the affirmative. Indeed, few 
nations could produce better evidence of their origin 
than the independent Nestorians ; nor is there, proba- 
bly, another on the globe which has existed so long with- 
out revolution, or any of the radical changes to which 
all human governments are exposed. I doubt wheth- 
er there is a Jew on the earth who can substantiate 



MISCELLANIES. 267 

his claim to a descent from Abraham by higher evi- 
dence than tradition. As to relying on his observance 
of Jew^ish rites and ceremonies, it w^ould avail him little 
in the estimation of Professor Robinson. The latter 
might, as in the present case, draw from his Oriental 
fund instances of similar usages in other nations to al- 
most any extent. " I am circumcised," says the Jevr. 
" So are the Mohammedans," the professor might re- 
spond. " I abhor sw^ine's flesh." " So do the Copts." 
"I observe fasts and festivals." "So do all the Ori- 
ental churches ;" and in this manner, and at this rate, 
the poor Jew is completely denationalized.* 

Thus, unless I am deceived, it must appear, first, 
that the supposed restoration of the ten tribes to their 
native land, in any considerable number, is wholly un- 
supported by proof; secondly, in the absence of all 
evidence of their removal in any direction whatever, it 
inevitably follows that they retained the location as- 
signed to them, according to the hypothesis of Prideaux. 
And although many may have adhered to their national 
faith, and although amalgamation with other nations 

* And yet the professor thinks that tithes and circumcision ought to 
he practiced hy the Nestorians if they were Jews originally. Tithes 
and the whole Levitical priesthood had no existence in Israel from the 
day that Jeroboam renounced the worship of Jehovah, and banished 
the priests and Levites from his dominion, to the day of the final cap- 
tivity of the ten tribes, a period of more than two hundred and fifty 
years. Surely tithes were not revived by the captives. 

Circumcision, and all the bloody rites and sacrifices under the Law, 
I had supposed were superseded and abolished by the new dispensa- 
tion. The professor, indeed, seems to intimate that the rite of circum- 
cision is still binding on the Jewish converts ; but I am unwilling to 
believe that such is his deliberate opinion. His words are, " The 
apostolic doctrine had reference only to the Gentiles, and not to the 
Jewish converts ; and Paul himself, at a later day, circumcised Timo- 
thy !" To draw broad conclusions from narrow premises is consider- 
ed bad logic. Is it otherwise in hei'meneutics ? 



268 MISCELLANIES. 

may have occurred to some extent, yet that a large 
portion embraced Christianity, and, by a course of de- 
scent, are now identified with the Nestorians, is a po- 
sition fairly sustained by Dr. Grant's valuable publica- 
tion. That faithful and beloved missionary is now, I 
trust, at his post, pouring through the press light and 
joy over the benighted regions which he had pre- 
viously cheered by his presence, and blessed with his 
medical skill and spiritual instruction. With him I 
have no personal acquaintance ; and if an apology for 
this communication is demanded, it must be found in 
my admiration of his character, and of the noble cause 
in which he is engaged. 



THE PURITY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEFENDED. 
[^Addressed to the Editors of the New York Mirror."] 

While statesmen are manifesting their solicitude 
for the soundness of the currency, suffer a plain citi- 
zen to express his concern for the purity of another 
medium of intercourse not less important in its bear- 
ing on our social interests ; I mean the language, par- 
ticularly its orthography. If one is endangered by the 
increased and increasing multitude of banks, the other 
is in equal peril from the multiplied innovations of pre- 
tended reformers. In the former case, indeed, the 
evil exists in apprehension merely ; in the latter, it is 
already realized in no small degree, and threatens to 
proceed to an extent still more alarming. Let a lover 
of pure English, from either side of the Atlantic, enter 
an American reading-room, where shall be spread be- 
fore him the diversified products of the periodical 
press ; let him behold the discrepancies in orthography 
which they exhibit, and the departures of nearly all 



MISCELLANIES. 269 

of them from the accredited standards of the language, 
and he would be apt to imagine that our countrymen 
had incurred the fate of the builders of Babel ! He 
would at least believe that a dialect is here springing up, 
differing not less from his mother-tongue than the lin- 
gua Franca of the Barbary coast from the true Italian. 
I believe it is generally admitted that the English 
language, long in a state of pupilage, finally reached 
maturity, both in orthography and style, during the 
reigns of Queen Anne and George the First. The 
form which each individual word then received, wheth- 
er from accident or design, and whether the best that 
could be devised or not, it has, until lately, been deem- 
ed the part of wisdom scrupulously to retain, because 
under these precise forms are embodied all the rich 
and varied effusions of genius and imagination from 
Addison to Irving. Throughout the whole of that 
bright and glorious period of our literature, scarcely a 
word became obsolete, scarcely a letter was con- 
sidered either misplaced or superfluous. Wherefore, 
may I ask, should this beautiful system be changed ? 
Why must the works of our classick authors, by pre- 
tended reformations in spelling, be rendered unintel- 
ligible to the next generation ; or, if made intelligible 
by glossaries or through interpreters, why must they 
be doomed to lose half their sweetness, and all their 
freshness with the youthful reader, by their uncouth 
and antiquated appearance ? Why, in short, should a 
foreigner be compelled to learn the language twice 
over, if he would acquaint himself with the best por- 
tion of our literature ? It is really difficult to conceive 
what benefit it is to countervail these evident disad- 
vantages, and others that might be named. But it is 
pronounced, by some men of high literary distinction, 



270 MISCELLANIES. 

a great improvement to reduce our " cumbrous orthog 
raphy" by stripping words of such letters as are not 
essential to their sound. If this is correct doctrine, it 
must be applicable to all cases without exception. 
Let the experiment be made. Take, for instance, the 
verb know (and what word calls more loudly for re- 
form ?) ; strip it of its first and last letters, which con- 
tribute nothing to the sound, and we have no, past 
time nu, participle none. What a saving of types, 
time, and space !• Proceed in like manner through the 
vocabulary, erasing all silent or redundant letters, and 
transposing and substituting others as the sound shall 
require, and what would be the result ? Nothing less 
than to obscure the meaning of words, multiply am- 
biguities, confound etymologies, and, in short, to effect 
an almost total change in the written language ; and, 
as a natural and certain consequence, the fine classick 
models, the splendid productions of British and Ameri- 
can genius, must, unless reprinted in the new dialect, 
be utterly lost to all succeeding generations. Happily, 
this renewed barbarism would be confined to our side 
of the Atlantic. On the other side, both the language 
and its precious literature would still remain, at once 
the monument of British wisdom and American folly. 
Surely we are not prepared for this ! If we are not, 
let us not suffer that to be done in detail which we 
should certainly resist if attempted in the gross. 

The changes to which I have alluded are doubtless 
to be ascribed chiefly to the two dictionaries published 
by Noah Webster, Esquire, at different periods. It is 
a singular fact, that two dictionaries of the same lan- 
guage should emanate from the same individual, differ- 
ing materially from each other, and still more essen- 
tially from all the vocabularies which had preceded 



MISCELLANIES. 1271 

them. Far be it from me to speak disrespectfully of 
the talents of this gentleman, or to engage in an ex- 
tended and critical analysis of his works. His defini- 
tions are satisfactory, and if he had confined himself 
to this main purpose of a lexicon, he would have ren- 
dered an important service to the cause both of sci- 
ence and literature. His etymology also may be gen- 
erally correct ; and yet, when, in the introduction to 
his larger work, he gravely informs us that the Latin 
word malum is derived from the Welsh word mall, I 
must be permitted to receive his Persian and Arabic 
derivations with some few " grains of allowance." 
This branch of philology, however, is comparatively 
of small moment. It is from orthography that lan- 
guage receives its " form and pressure ;" and as ours 
has been settled by respectable authority, and sanc- 
tioned by the best usage, the chief merit of a lexicog- 
rapher, at this day, consists in suflfering it to remain 
precisely as he finds it. Unfortunately, our author 
thought otherwise. 

It is not my purpose, Messrs. Editors, to trespass 
upon your columns by a protracted view of these per- 
formances. I will merely, in conclusion, advert to the 
peculiar hostility of the author to the vowel u, mani- 
fest in both dictionaries. This letter, it seems, was 
too great a favourite with our English fathers to be 
retained in a vast catalogue of words, in which they 
had deliberately placed it, as neighbour, endeavour, &c., 
&c. They were also, as you know, particularly care- 
ful, when naturalizing a certain class of Latin words, 
to give them the national mark of u, as in honour, fa- 
vour, and a multitude of others. The French adopted 
a similar course, and, much to their credit, they firmly 
adhere to it. But it ill accords, we must suppose, with 



272 MISCELLANIES. 

our notions of independence, to tolerate these British 
predilections. Accordingly, the author applies his 
clipping instrument with merciless rigour, not indis- 
criminately, as consistency would require, but to every 
case in which the operation would be most sensibly 
felt. Few changes are necessary in any language 
which has attained to a mature state ; none, indeed, 
but such as proceed from the rejection of obsolete 
words, and the admission of new terms, rendered ne- 
cessary, in the progress of human affairs, by new dis- 
coveries, and improvements in science and the arts. 
But the precise dress given to any word when intro- 
duced into the vocabulary, it should be allowed, nay, 
compelled, forever to wear. The judicial maxim, stare 
decisis, is as worthy of acceptation in orthography as 
in jurisprudence ; and let us remember, that every in- 
stance of innovation in spelling is just one step taken 
in the track of pseudo-reform, and tends directly to 
the catastrophe which every sincere lover of his moth- 
er-tongue should most anxiously avoid. 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 
[ To the Editors of the New York Mirror.'} 

Gentlemen, — A learned divine,* in a sermon lately 
published, has advanced an opinion that the " English 
language will probably, ere long, become the prevail- 
ing language of the whole world." The prediction, if 
it may be called such, is entitled to respect, as well for 
the reasons which may be offered in support of it, as 
for the appeal it makes to the honest pride of every 
Briton and American. We need not dwell on the ev- 

* The Rev. Samuel Miller, D.D., of the Theological Seminary, 
Princeton, N. J. 



MISCELLANIES. 273 

idence derived from the superiour excellence of the 
language, its copiousness, its unrivalled power of giv- 
ing expression to every shade of thought, nor on the fact 
that it embodies all that is valuable in science, and all 
that is useful and elegant in literature ; there are other 
considerations of sufficient moment to render its uni- 
versal prevalence a highly probable as w^ell as desira- 
ble event. Who can doubt that, under a benign Prov- 
idence, our country is destined to impart her language, 
along with her free institutions, to the whole Ameri- 
can continent ? Nay, from her unequalled increase in 
numbers and enterprise, who will say that even her 
population may not ultimately overspread every hab- 
itable portion of this entire quarter of the globe? Then 
contemplate for a moment the prodigious extent of the 
British possessions, composing an empire upon which 
it is no figure of speech to say " the sun never sets." 
While over her vast domain Britain is spreading the 
genial influence of her laws and her jurisprudence, her 
benevolent societies, in concert with those in our own 
country, are carrying the lights of science and religion 
into Africa, Greece, Turkey, Western Asia, Persia, 
Hindostan, Burmah, China, the Indian Archipelago, 
Australasia, and the islands of the Pacific Ocean, thus 
verifying, in its best sense, the memorable boast of a 
British statesman, "the mother and daughter against 
the world !" for it must be admitted that, with the 
exception of the United Brethren, nearly all the mis- 
sionaries and agents employed in the sacred enterprise 
of reforming " a world lying in wickedness" are chiefly 
sustained by British and American munificence. And 
the better opinion appears now to be, that our lan- 
guage and literature must be brought to bear upon the 
great work of evangelizing the unenlightened nations 



274 MISCELLANIES. 

of the earth. The gross idolatry, for example, which 
sheds such a malignant influenoe over Eastern Asia, is 
so intimately blended with the pride of false science, 
that both seem destined to stand or fall together. His 
religion, with its thousand gods, is not more sacred in 
the eyes of a Hindoo, than his monstrous system of 
astronomy, geography, and metaphysics ; all are com- 
prised in their Shasters, and, in his view, are equally 
invested with divine and infallible authority. Hence 
the necessity of disabusing his understanding before 
you can hope to make any successful impression upon 
his heart. Show him, for instance (and instruction in 
modern geography will do it), the absurdity of believ- 
ing that this earth extends many millions of miles, with 
successive continents, and intervening oceans of sugar- 
cane juice, and wine, and milk ; convince him of this 
one fallacy, and the entire fabrick of his faith, theolog- 
ical and physical, falls to the ground. He abandons 
the whole at once, and his mind is open to the recep- 
tion of philosophical and evangelical truths. Now, as 
it is preposterous to even think of translating our works 
of science and literature into the languages of Hindos- 
tan, the inference is plain that the English tongue, and 
with it the treasures of sound learning, should be first 
imparted to its wretched inhabitants, before we may 
rationally expect their reformation to become thorough 
and universal. The efficacy of this course is fully at- 
tested by intelligent laymen and experienced mission- 
aries, long conversant with the institutions and habits 
of that ill-fated country.* The same reasons apply, 
with more or less force, to Burmah, to China, and, in a 
word, to all the pagan and heathen nations of the earth, 

* See mi admirable report of the Rev. Mr. DuiF to the General As- 
sembly of Scotland. 



MISCELLANIES. 275 

and it is to be hoped the plan of combining intellectual 
with religious culture will shortly be adopted at all the 
missionary stations now existing, or which may be 
hereafter established. Is it, then, too much to expect 
that missionary zeal, under the guidance of heaven, 
fostered by a spirit of enlarged benevolence at home, 
and aided by the facilities resulting from a boundless 
commerce, will, at no very remote period, give a uni- 
versal currency to the English language, and with it 
the rich treasures of human science, and the inestima- 
ble blessings of " pure and undefiled religion ?" Is it 
too much to anticipate the day when the voyager, 
British or American, in visiting the most distant climes, 
shall exchange salutations with the inhabitants in his 
own native tongue ; shall recognize around him the sure 
tokens of successful industry and of mental cultivation ; 
shall listen to well-known accents of praise in temples 
consecrated to Jehovah, and shall behold — delightful 
spectacle ! — an English Bible the blessed inmate of ev- 
ery habitation ? Who does not rejoice at the prospect 
of such a consummation ? Who would not contribute 
to accelerate its approach ? 

If, gentlemen, this high distinction awaits the En- 
glish language, surely it becomes the solemn duty oi 
the present generation to maintain its purity, and espe- 
cially to resist those invasions upon its orthography 
which threaten not only to mar its beauty, but to de- 
stroy its identity. Every one in the least acquainted 
with the difficulties to be encountered in learning a 
foreign tongue, knows well the value of a precise and 
uniform orthography. Let the learner discover the 
variation of a single letter between his text and his 
lexicon, and his progress is effectually checked until 
he can obtain light from some other quarter. Now 



276 MISCELLANIES. 

this embarrassment is sufficiently great when occa- 
sioned by mere typographical mistake in omitting or 
transposing a letter. What shall we say of those who 
produce it purposely, by multiplying elisions and trans- 
positions, without sparing words of the most sacred 
import, and without any other reasons than such as go 
to destroy the whole structure of the language, if in- 
discriminately applied. The naked truth is, these al- 
terations are governed by no definite rule, but proceed 
wholly from caprice and whim ; and rare indeed are 
the instances in which evils so serious have resulted 
from experiments of mere sciolists upon the credulity 
of the publick. Never, probably, since the day when 
the " whole earth was of one language and one speech," 
has the settled language of any civilized nation suffer- 
ed such egregious injury from a frivolous love of change 
as our own mother tongue, in this otherwise highly-fa- 
vored corner of the English world. We should feel 
thankful to a kind Providence that the evil is confined 
to this side of the Atlantic, and that even here these 
wretched anomahes have obtained so limited a cur- 
rency, notwithstanding the attempts to circulate and 
uphold them by certificates and testimonials more nu- 
merous, it is believed, than ever accompanied any oth- 
er patented nostrum. The good sense of the publick 
has prevailed. A few of our periodical journals, in- 
deed, have adopted them in part, whose editors no 
doubt amuse themselves with the eccentricities of the 
Downing Gazette, without seeming to reflect that their 
own are scarcely less ludicrous. 

" Who but must laugh, if such a man there be ! 
Who would not weep, if Atticus were he ?" 

Yes, gentlemen, I for one feel disposed to weep that 
some of our religious journalists are of this number ! 



MISCELLANIES. 277 

Although distinguished for learning and piety, they 
send forth their useful intelligence in the garb of the 
new pseudography ; sound doctrine it may be, and ex- 
pressed in language pleasant enough to the ear, but 
frightful to the eye ; spelled in a manner which a few 
years since would have subjected a schoolboy to se- 
vere rebuke, if not to chastisement. Why is it that, 
professing to sustain the cause of the Bible, they devi- 
ate so widely from its orthography, and thus, as far as 
their influence extends, discredit the sacred volume it- 
self in the eyes of the rising generation, and not only 
the sacred volume, but the best and most approved 
authors in every department of literature ? The Bible 
is printed in England hjpublick authority, according to 
the accredited and established orthography. Our na- 
tional Bible Society, in their various editions, conform 
to the English copy ; and it is not the least of the rich 
blessings derived from the sacred volume, that its in- 
valuable translation thus becomes, for both nations, a 
safe and unerring standard of the English tongue. It 
is in conformity with this standard that our language 
must be communicated to foreign nations ; unless we 
mean to augment, in a tenfold degree, the labour of 
acquiring it by exhibiting two or more distinct dia- 
lects, and unless we also intend to adopt a course of 
instruction far different from that which will certainly 
be pursued by our British brethren. Imagine, for a 
moment, that the different modes of spelling find their 
way to India, and a learned Pundit should thus inter- 
rogate an American missionary. " I perceive. Padre, 
many words in your language w^hich I am assured 
are identically the same, but which are, nevertheless, 
differently formed. Here, for example, I see in your 
Bible the word Saviour, one of the names of the Re- 
deemer, and here in this book it is Savior ; why is this ?" 



278 MISCELLANIES. 

Missionary. — " The former word is used in the sa- 
cred Scriptures ; the latter, in common and more fa- 
miliar compositions," 

Pundit. — " Ah, then you have your Sanscrit also, a 
sacred language diverse from your vernacular tongue. 
It is strange that the English padre who taught me 
your language never intimated any such thing. But 
I pray you to inform me what could be the motive for 
thus altering this holy name ?" 

Missionary. — " The author of the reformed mode of 
spelling considers Savior analogous to Senior and Ju- 
nior, and that it should have, therefore, the same termi- 
nation."* 

Pundit. — " Senior and Junior ! they are Latin words, 
adjectives in the comparative degree. What possible 
analogy can be supposed to exist between these sev- 
eral terms ? has your reformer no better reason to as- 
sign for the numerous changes everywhere visible in 
the book which you have put into my hands ? As to 
the alteration of this word, I consider it nothing less 
than impiously trifling with a name which is declared 
in your Scriptures to be * above every name !' Allow 
me to tell you. Padre, that it will be a very difficult 
undertaking to teach this double language of yours to 
my countrymen." 

Unable to frame a satisfactory rejoinder for the mis- 
sionary, I resign the task to your readers, and con- 
clude with reminding our conductors of religious 
journals, that the apostolical direction to "hold fast 
the FORM of sound words" is not more applicable to 
doctrinal truths than to the maintenance of the purity 
and stability of the language. 

* See the answer of N. Webster to Senex in the New York Mirror 
of 8th March, 1834. 



MISCELLANIES. 279 



THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER, WITH ALTERATIONS. 
[ To the Editors of the New York Mirror. ] 

Gentlemen, — Warburton informs us that Pope wrote 
the Universal Prayer to silence the cavils which his 
Essay on Man had elicited ; not thinking, probably, 
that the prayer itself would subject him to animadver- 
sions scarcely less formidable. The gratuitous and ir- 
reverent specification of names in the last line of the first 
verse ; the uncouth combinations of fate and free-will 
in the second and third verses, expressed, too, in bad 
grammar ; the hyperbole, bordering on profanity, in the 
fourth verse, and the licentious tendency of the fifth — 
these are the principal objections oflfered to this other- 
wise delightful production. I have humbly endeavour- 
ed, by a few alterations, in italics, to deliver it from the 
obnoxious passages, in the hope that if the versifica- 
tion is rendered thereby less melodious, the sentiment, 
at least, will be more generally acceptable. The in- 
imitable author has, in my judgment, written few things 
more creditable to his muse than this beautiful para- 
phrase of the Lord's Prayer. Whether, as thus modi- 
fied, it shall be received into the " Family Circle" of 
your elegant miscellany, is most respectfully submitted. 

Father of all, in every age, 

In every clime adored, 
By saint, by savage, and by sage, 

The same Almighty Lord ! 
Thou great First Cause ! best understood 

While with an humble mind 
I feel but this, that thou art good, 

And that myself am blind ; 
Yet gav^st me in the darkest hour 

To see the good from ill. 
And hast, though infinite in power, 

Left free the human will. 



280 MISCELLANIES. 

What conscience dictates to be done, 
Or warns me not to do, 

This teach me faithfully to shun, 
That ^rmZy to pursue. 

For blessings thy free bounty gives, 
Let hourly thanks arise; 

For God, to him who thus receives, 
Adds joys beyond the skies. 

Yet not to earth's contracted span, 
Thy goodness let me bound, 

Or think Thee Lord alone of man. 
When thousand worlds are round. 

Let not this weak, unknowing hand 
Presume thy bolts to throw. 

And deal damnation round the lano 
On each I judge thy foe. 

If I am right, thy grace impart, 
Still in the right to stay : 

If I am wrong, oh teach my heart 
To find that better way. 

Save me alike from foolish pride. 

Or impious discontent, 
At aught thy wisdom has denieG 

Or aught thy goodness lent. 

Teach me to feel another's wo«. 

To hide the fault I see ; 
That mercy I to others show, 

That mercy show to me. 

Frail as I am, and wholly so. 
Without thy quickening breath 

O lead me whereso'er I go 

Through this day's life or death 

This day be bread and peace my loi 
All else beneath the sun 

Thou know'st if best bestowed or not, 
And let thy will be done. 

To Thee, w^hose temple is all space. 
Whose altar earth, sea, skies ! 

One chorus let all beings raise ! 
All nature's incense rise ! 



MISCELLANIES. 281 



[ To the Editors of the New York Mirror. '\ 

Gentlemen, — The following account of the bombard- 
ment and defense of Stonington during the late war 
with Great Britain, has been recently received from a 
respectable citizen of that town, who not only was pres- 
ent through the whole affair, but, as I learn from other 
sources, performed his full share of duty upon that mem- 
orable occasion. I have availed myself of his permission 
to abridge the narrative in some measure, lest it should 
occupy too large a space in your valuable paper; no im- 
portant fact, however, is omitted. We have reason to 
believe the transaction was highly beneficial in its con- 
sequences ; for, without doubt, the dauntless spirit with 
v/hich the people of Stonington resisted the invaders, 
effectually deterred the enemy from any further attempt 
to execute the threat previously announced, of laying 
waste the whole maritime frontier of Connecticut. Not 
having before seen a detailed statement of operations 
during the attack, and believing that it deserves a more 
faithful and enduring chronicle than mere tradition, I 
cheerfully consign it to the columns of the Mirror. 

BOMBARDMENT AND DEFENSE OF STONINGTON. 

No part of the sea-coast of Connecticut is more ex- 
posed to annoyance from an enemy, than the village of 
Stonington. It is compactly built, on a point of land 
extending into the sea, with a harbour easy of access and 
wholly unfortified. During the late war, while the na- 
tional vessels were blockaded in the harbour of New 
London by the British fleet, the inhabitants of Stoning- 
ton were under continual apprehension of a visit from 
the enemy. The blockading ships were in fair view of 



282 MISCELLANIES. 

the village, and their boats almost daily reconnoitered 
along the coast, apparently with other objects than the 
interruption of commerce. We implored the general 
government for protection, but it was not found conven- 
ient to grant it. The governour of the state, however, 
sent us a small guard of militia to aid the inhabitants in 
keeping a nightly watch, and sound the alarm in case 
the enemy should approach. Despairing of further aid, 
the citizens, who were disposed to do their duty to their 
country and to themselves, resolved to take their de- 
fense into their own hands. By voluntary labour, three 
temporary breast-works were thrown up in different po- 
sitions. At the upper work a flag-staff was planted 
and a small platform prepared, on which were placed 
two fine eighteen pounders, which had been obtained 
from the national government previous to the war. 
Scarcely were these hasty preparations made, when, on 
Tuesday, the ninth of August, 1814, the hostile fleet was 
perceived to be in motion, passing through Fisher's 
Island Sound, and coming on in the direction of Stoning- 
ton. Various conjectures were formed as to their des- 
tination ; few of us, however, supposed that so formid- 
able a force could be arrayed for the attack of our de- 
fenseless village. As they continued to approach, the 
female portion of our population expressed great alarm, 
which soon rose to indescribable consternation when 
the whole squadron was seen to enter our harbor, con- 
sisting of the Ramilies, seventy-four, the frigate Pacto- 
lus, the bomb-ship Terrour, and the brig of war Despatch, 
of twenty guns. Soon after they were moored, a barge 
put off from the nearest ship and rowed toward the 
shore, bearing a white flag. A momentary consultation 
was held among the inhabitants who were then assem- 
bled on the question, What shall be done ? when it was 



MISCELLANIES. 283 

decided, as by a general impulse, to meet the foe ! Im- 
mediately several gentlemen entered a boat and pro- 
ceeded to receive the flag. The officer of the barge, 
the first lieutenant of the Ramilies, presented an unseal- 
ed communication, of which the following is an exact 
copy, but refused to answer any interrogatories further 
than to say he had performed his duty in delivering the 
message of the commodore. 

" His Britannic Majesty's ship Pactolus, 9th of August, 1814, } 
half past 5 P.M. 5 

" Not wishing to destroy the unoffending inhabitants 
residing in the town of Stonington, one hour is granted 
them from the receipt of this to remove out of town. 

" T. M. Hardy, 

" Captain of his Majesty's ship Ramilies." 

I shall not attempt to describe the agitation which 
this message occasioned. Its brevity, its awful import, 
the overwhelming force of the enemy, our defenseless 
condition, and the short time allowed us to remove our 
*' unoffending" women and children, and to prepare for 
the conflict, awoke sensations which can be more easily 
conceived than expressed. The brief space allotted us 
was diligently employed in taking our non-combatants 
to places of safety, and in collecting whatever ammuni- 
tion could be found in the possession of individuals, while 
ten determined volunteers took their stand at the breast- 
work, to observe the first movements of the enemy. All 
remained quiet until eight o'clock in the evening, when 
the Terrour commenced the bombardment by throwing 
a shell into the town, and continued with short intervals 
to fire bombs and carcasses through the night. Nothing 
was done, at that period, on our part, except once dis- 
charging an eighteen pounder at the brig, which had 
suspended a lantern in her shrouds, but immediately 



284 MISCELLANIES. 

hauled it down from the apparent effect of the shot. 
As soon as the day broke on Wednesday, the enemy's 
barges appeared at a short distance from the east side 
of the point, and commenced firing their rockets at the 
buildings. Immediately a sufficient number of the vol- 
unteers dragged one of their guns across the point, at- 
tacked the barges from the open field, sunk one of them, 
compelled the rest to retire, and, in the midst of a raking 
fire from the brig, returned to the breast-work in safety. 
At sunrise, the brig of war commenced firing upon the 
town, approaching within grape-shot distance of the 
shore. At the same moment the Terrour resumed the dis- 
charge of rockets, and throwing of shells and carcasses. 
While the brave men at the guns were doing their duty, 
others equally fearless followed the rockets and car- 
casses to the buildings, and extinguished the fires they 
were kindling ; a perilous service, which they continued 
to perform to the end of the conflict. The men at the 
breast-work had ammunition for one gun only, which 
they aimed with deadly effect, hulling the brig at every 
shot ; but their powder at length failing, they reluctantly 
retired for a short time, until the express which they 
had dispatched to New London should return with a 

supply. , 

This, to their great joy, arrived at eleven o clock 
A.M., when they instantly repaired to their post, nailed 
their colors to the staff, opened their fire anew, and with 
such effect that the brig, in no great length of time, to 
avoid being sunk, cut her cable and retired, leaving her 
cable and anchor behind, which were afterward secur- 
ed, and are still preserved. During this exhibition of 
desperate valour, the men were driven to the expedient 
of making cartridges with clothing torn from their bod- 
ies, and weeds collected around the breast- work ; and 



MISCELLANIES. 285 

when the match-rope failed, they fired the cannon with 
a small gun snapped over the vent. The number of 
men thus engaged at no time exceeded twenty, all equal 
in command. The bombardment continued until Thurs- 
day, when a cessation of hostilities took place, and a 
flag was sent from Commodore Hardy, with a message, 
the purport of which was to require us to send on board 
his ship Mrs. Stewart, the British consul's wife, then in 
New London, and to give a pledge that we would not 
send torpedoes to annoy his ships. On our compliance 
with these terms, he engaged the bombardment should 
cease. With a spirit becoming the occasion, he was 
told, in reply, that no compliance could be expected from 
us, and no favours were asked of him beyond what the 
rules of honourable warfare required. The bomb-ship 
then recommenced her fire of shells and carcasses ; and 
on Friday, after the Ramilies had fired two broadsides 
at the town, the squadron, about noon, retreated to the 
place from whence it came, with little cause of triumph, 
it is believed, at the result of the expedition. 

Should it be asked how many lives were lost on our 
part, I must answer, with gratitude to God, not an in- 
dividual was killed. One young man received a wound 
in the knee, and died six months afterward. This state- 
ment may appear incredible, when it is considered that 
during a part of the conflict the men were wholly ex- 
posed to the enemy's fire ; that their breast- work was 
merely a mound of earth ; that the star-spangled banner, 
which hung low over their heads, was pierced with 
many balls, and the board fence and buildings in their 
rear were perforated in a manner so remarkable, as 
would seem to render it impossible that any of them 
could have escaped uninjured. It will also be seen that 
those who were engaged in watching the houses, and 



286 MISCELLANIES. 

guarding them against the effects of the rockets and 
shells, were exposed to dangers of no ordinary kind. 
Their unremitting efforts prevented a single instance of 
conflagration, although many buildings were greatly in- 
jured by the balls and shells, and some were wholly 
destroyed. 

The bombardment, it is perceived, lasted from Tues- 
day evening to Friday noon, during which many inci- 
dents of an interesting nature occurred which can not 
now be detailed. One instance, however, of female for- 
titude and filial piety united, I feel it a duty to record. 
A few rods in the rear of the breast- work stood a small 
house, in which resided an aged widow and her daugh- 
ter. The mother was sick and could not be moved. 
Her daughter remained alone with her through the 
night of Tuesday and the battle of Wednesday, until 
the mother died. The daughter then went forth to an- 
nounce the fact and obtain assistance to bury the dead. 
No female aid could be had ; all had fled. A few men 
assembled, but perceived they could do nothing with 
the body except to take it with the bed and covering, 
and bury them together. Accordingly, they carried all 
to the nearest burying-ground, where they found a hole 
made by the fall and explosion of a shell, in which the 
whole were interred, and where they have since re- 
mained. The composure, the passive courage as well 
as dutiful affection of the daughter, astonished all who 
saw her. Without calling for aid or uttering a com- 
plaint, she continued at the bedside of her dying mother 
until her death, while cannon-balls were often passing 
through the house, and even the room where she sat. 
Her name is Huldah Hall. She is still living, poor in 
worldly substance, but " rich in faith," and, I doubt not, 
" an heir of glory." 



MISCELLANIES. 287 

The writer of the foregoing narrative has furnished 
no estimate of the enemy^s loss, as he probably possessed 
no certain evidence of its amount. But if we may cred- 
it the account published at the time, it was far from 
proving a bloodless affair to the assailants. 

Expresses were also sent to convene the neighbouring 
militia, who promptly assembled, were organized in the 
confines of the town, and stood ready to meet the enemy 
if a landing had been effected. 



APPENDICES. 



N 



APPENDICES. 



APPENDIX A. 

Memoir of the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith. 

The Rev. Cotton Mather Smith was bom at Suffield, on the 16th of 
October, 1731. His father, Samuel Smith, was grandson of the Rev. 
Henry Smith, who came from England an ordained minister of the 
Gospel, and was installed the first pastor of the church in Wethersfield 
in 1636. His mother was gi'and-daughter of the Rev. Increase iNlather, 
president of Harvard College, a distinguished father of the New England 
churches, and whose son, the Rev. Dr. Cotton Mather, was alike an 
ornament to the evangelical ministry and to the republic of letters. 
The subject of this memoir was named after the celebrated divine last 
mentioned, and was early designed by his pious mother for the same 
sacred employment. 

At college Mr. Smith was distinguished for sprightliness of genius, 
uncommon agility of body, and a truly amiable disposition. He grad- 
uated at Yale in 1751. His Latin exercises, and various effusions in 
prose and verse, which are still preserved, evince that his time was not 
misemployed, and that he deserved the character he acquii-ed, of a 
respectable scholar. From college Mr. Smith went to reside at Hat- 
field, Mass., where his mind became seriously impressed, and after 
making a public profession of our holy religion, he immediately entered 
upon the study of divinity with the Rev. Mr. Woodbridge of that town. 
While pursuing his theological studies, he was strongly solicited, and 
at length consented, to take charge of a school which had been recent- 
ly established among the Indians at Stockbridge. In this novel and 
difficult situation, Mr. Smith acquitted himself beyond his own hopes, 
and to the entire satisfaction of those who employed him. He at once 
ingratiated himself with the savages by mingling in their athletic 
sports, and exhibiting feats of bodily activity that served not less to ex- 
cite their astonishment than to establish his ascendency over them. 
They soon yielded him implicit obedience. He was indefatigable in 
his exertions, became a proficient in their language, and by his zealous 
efforts to blend religious instruction with the elements of human knowl- 
edge, accomplished as much for their improvement and eventual ref- 
ormation as could well be effected within the same period upon minda 



292 APPENDIX A. 

80 unpromising. Ha^dng completed the term for which he engaged, 
Mr Smith returned to Hatfield, resumed his studies, and was examm- 
ed for the ministry in 1753. He had preached two years as a candi- 
date when he accepted the call of the church and congregation in 
Sharon, Conn., and was ordained their pastor, August 28, 1755. He 
soon after married the second daughter of the Rev. WiUiam Worthing- 
ton, of Saybrook; a woman of singular accomplishments, and emmently 
calculated for that truly dehcate station, the wife of a country clergy- 
man. By her Mr. Smith had six children, two only of whom survive 

Tn the common round of pastoral duties, arduous as it undoubtedly 
is, there is a uniformity which furnishes but few incidents worthy of 
particular notice. Mr. Smith, however, encountered trials which, a 
reference to his diary would show, were of no ordinary kmd. These 
it is not the design of the writer to enumerate. Let it be merely ob- 
served that he found a people divided in sentiment, extremely loose m 
their moral habits, and scattered over a parish nine miles in length and 
seven in breadth. They had been overrun by schismatics, who had 
left traces of heresy in almost all its forms, and the minds of no incon- 
siderable number had been poisoned by a club of professed infidels in 
a neighboring province. For a situation attended with such pecuhar 
embarrassments, few men were ever better qualified. Mr. Smith was 
not only " a scribe well instructed" in the great doctrines of the Christ- 
ian religion, he also exemplified its duties in his hfe. To great pru- 
dence and circumspection of conduct, and a just sense of the dignity 
of his ministerial character, he added a demeanor highly courteous and 
concihating. While, therefore, " by a manifestation of the truth he 
commended himself to every man's conscience," by his gentle and af- 
fable deportment he won irresistibly the favorable regard even of his 
most bitter opponents. He visited at short intervals every part of his 
society, was " instant in season and out of season," and with his various 
and useftd talents, having also acquired a considerable knowledge of 
the heahng art, he was frequently enabled in his parochial visits to 
combine medical aid with the consolations of religion. His character- 
istic attention to the sick and afflicted of his flock, was strikingly mani- 
fested at the time the small pox raged with uncommon virulence 
throughout the town. Within the space of two months neariy seven 
hundred were subjects of the disease. It was in the midst of a severe 
winter. Nurses could not be obtained. The pastor, at this inclement 
season, was almost unceasingly employed in relieving and comforting 
the sufferers, insomuch that he never put ofi" his clothes to rest for 
nineteen successive days and nights. 

But the spiritual welfare of his people was the chief object of his 



APPENDIX A. 293 

solicitude. That spirit of licentiousness which existed among them at 
the period of his settlement, and which discovered itself in gambling, 
tavern-haunting, and their concomitant vices, filled him with the deep 
est anguish. Not confining himself to general animadversions from the 
desk, he descended to private and personal admonitions ; even entered 
at the midnight hour the haunts of dissipation, and adding to the author- 
ity of a teacher the entreaties of a friend, dispersed at once the guilty 
associates. This was done so pnidently as never in any one instance 
to give offense, and so effectually as to afford him the satisfaction, long 
before the close of his ministry, of beholding his parish exceeded by 
none for love of order and habits of sobriety. By attentions like these, 
by unwearied diligence in his pastoral functions, by his fervent piety 
untainted with bigotry or enthusiasm, and by his peculiar talent at dis- 
playing the ease and cheerfulness of a companion without losing sight 
for a moment of the solemnity of his official station, it is not strange he 
should gaiu the confidence, and secure the sincere and lasting attach- 
ment of his people. 

Mr. Smith was the early and decided friend of his country in her 
struggle for independence. Having received the appointment of chap- 
lain to the northeni army, he cheerfully left his family and flock, and 
served in the memorable campaign of 1775. The hardships and priva- 
tions he endured proved too great for even his vigorous constitution. 
He was attacked by a putrid fever, which brought him near the grave, 
and from the effects of which he never wholly recovered. His important 
services during that trj-ing season will be remembered by those of his 
snrv-ivors who were then the partners of his toils. They consisted in not 
merely denouncing the vices of a camp, and exhorting to the love and 
practice of piety, but also in comforting the sick, animating the dis- 
heartened, and enforcing the necessity of strict discipline and militaiy 
subordination. So eminently useful did Mr. Smith render himself in 
these respects, that he attracted the particular notice of the command- 
er-in-chief,* who from that time forward entei'tained for him a cordial 
and unreserved friendship, manifested in a course of generous and af- 
fectionate conduct, that terminated only with his life. 

Not to trace this laborious servant of Christ through all the active 
scenes in which he was engaged, whether in his own society, or in his 
missions to the new settlements, and other public appointments, it 
would be doing injustice to his memory not to mention the essential 
services which, in the character of a peace-maker, he was enabled to 
perform for the Church of God. As a counselor in difficult cases of dis- 
cipline, he was highly distinguished. So singular was his address in 
composing diflferences in societies, and in restoring harmony to coutend- 
* Major-general Schuyler. 



294 APPENDIX A. 

ing brethren, that his assistance on such occasions was eagerly sought 
by all the neighboring churches, and even by those at a great distance. 
And here, perhaps, it is no more than an act of common justice to our 
Presbyterian brethren to add, that near the close of his life, Mr. Smith 
declared, as the result of long experience, his decided preference for 
the Presbylerian form of church government, and expressed his ardent 
desire tliat it might be embraced by all the Congregational churches in 
New England. An opinion thus deliberately offered by one so exten- 
sively conversant in ecclesiastical affairs, and on a subject with which 
the prosperity of Zion is so intimately connected, the writer devoutly 
hopes will be seriously considered by all those "who love our Lord 
Jesus Christ in sincerity." 

In the relations of private life, Mr. Smith shone with peculiar lustre. 
A cheerful disposition, sweetness of temper and great tenderness of 
heart, accompanied by divine grace, made him all that could be desired 
in the offices of husband, parent, and friend. In him, literally, " the 
fatherless found a helper." Besides the necessary care of his own fam- 
ily, he had the principal charge of eighteen orphan children, in the 
course of his active and useful life, and not unfrequently have ten of 
this description been seen at a time round his chaii table board. While 
thus alive to the miseries of others, he bore his own grievous and multi- 
plied afflictions with exemplary patience. Having buried several chil- 
dren, he sustained in the year 1800 an irreparable loss in the sudden 
death of his excellent wife, when on a visit to her daughter in Albany. 
This severe and unexpected stroke was received with all the sensibility 
of the man, mingled with the pious resignation of the Christian. But 
60 necessary to his comfort was the habitual tenderness of his affection- 
ate companion, that after her death, although his cheerfulness never 
forsook him, his health nevertheless visibly declined. Perceiving at 
length his inabihty to discharge his pastoral duties in a manner satisfac- 
toiy to himself, he requested of his society a colleague in the ministry. 
The request was readily gi-anted, and in the year 1804 he had the hap- 
piness to " cast his mantle" upon " one of the sons of the prophets" not 
less beloved by himself than acceptable to his people. For this '' prec- 
ious ascension gift," as the aged pastor himself styled it, he failed not 
for the remainder of his life to offer his daily and fervent thanks to the 
great Head of the Church. 

In the year 1805, a period of fifty years having elapsed since his or- 
dination, Mr. S. preached his half -century sennon to a numerous and 
deeply-affected audience, from Luke, ii., 29, 30 : " Lord, now lettest 
thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes 
have seen thy salvation." 

It has been the lot of few clergymen to preach on such an occasion. 



APPENDIX A. ^95 

Few occasions, it is believed, are calculated to awaken in others a more 
feeling regard. An aged minister of Christ thus calmly reviewing the 
labors of fifty years, and entering, so to speak, into a solemn reckoning 
with his people, was in truth a spectacle which mere men of the world 
could not behold with indifference, but which, to the pious observer, 
was unspeakably interesting. Nor was the scene rendered less im- 
pressive by the circumstance that few, very few of tliose who were 
pi-esent at his ordination, were allowed, "by reason of death," to \vit- 
ness this affecting transaction. Some extracts from the sermon, were 
not this article already too far extended, would doubtless gratify the 
reader. As the entire performance may shortly be given to the public, 
let it suffice for the present merely to observe, that the preacher, in the 
course of his ministry, had delivered upward of four thotisand public 
discourses, and more Xh?Luffteen hundred at flmerals and other special 
occasions. 

Mr. Smith preached his last sermon, and administered the sacrament 
of the Lord's Supper for the last time, on the first Sabbath in January, 
A. D. 1806. A disorder with which he had been for some time afflicted, 
and which, on its first appearance, he considered as fatal, had now dis- 
abled him from a further attendance at the altar. He, however, con- 
tinued in a lingering state for several months ; viewing the gradual and 
certain approach of death without dismay, bearing the reiterated at- 
tacks of a most excruciating disease not only without a murmur, but in 
a spirit of humble submission to the divine disposal, and employing his 
intei-v'als of ease partly in social, solemn, and interesting conversations 
with his friends, but principally in a diligent perusal of the Holy Scrip- 
tures. The sacred volume had occupied through life much of his time 
and attention ; it was now his only *' study and delight." He seized 
the occasion which.a short respite from pain afibrded him, two days be- 
fore his death, to offer his dying testimony to the tnith of the Holy 
Oracles. After recapitulating and briefly enforcing the essential doc- 
trines of the Gospel, he concluded with the following remarkable words: 
" These things 1 have preached to others, and these things I myself be- 
lieve as fiilly as that the Bible is the word of God ; and this I believe 
as fully as that the Son of God was made manifest in the flesh ; and this 
I believe as fully as that God governs the world ; and this I believe as 
fully as I believe in my own present existence and approaching disso- 
lution. Lord, help mine unbelief!" From that time few words es- 
caped him; for, although relieved from pain, and in the clear possession 
of his reason, his power of utterance seemed to have failed ; still, to an 
a[)propriate prayer made by his colleague just before his decease, he 
added, " Amen," in an audible and emphatic manner. Remaining thus 
in an apparently tranquil state of body and mind until the morning of the 



1296 APPENDIX B. 

27th of November, 1806, he expired without a struggle, in the seventy- 
sixth year of his age, and fifty-second of his ministry. 

Mr. Smith w^as an engaging and persuasive preacher. A comely 
person, pleasant voice, and graceful manner; a strong, discriminating 
mind, well stored with sound and practical learning, and a heart ex" 
panded with love to God and man, united to render him a popular and 
successful champion of the truth. That he was a disciple of the Calvin- 
istic school, is evddent as well from several of his occasional sermons 
already published, as from the uniform tenor of his public ministrations. 
Those doctrines of the Gospel which the spiritual fathers of New En- 
gland steadfastly maintained, but which are the subject of so much pet- 
ulant cavil at the present day ; those doctrines which to the nominal 
Christian are " a stumbling block," and to the open enemies of the 
cross " foolishness," but which to the believer are the " wisdom of God 
and the power of God," found in him an active and faithful advocate. 
To his excellence in private life, let those attest who have enjoyed his 
society, or participated in his extensive benevolence. If a rare combi- 
nation of useful talents long and steadily devoted to the interests of the 
Redeemer's kingdom v^dll form a title to the distinction, it can not be 
deemed presumptuous to assign to this excellent man a conspicuous 
place in the bright catalogue of worthies who have edified and adorned 
the churches of New England. 



APPENDIX B. 
Obituary of Mrs. Smith. 
[From the New York Spectator of 1800.] 
Died, at the house of Judge RadclifF, in Albany, on the 26th of June 
last, on her return from Ballston Springs, aged 68 years, Mrs. Smith, 
the amiable consort of the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, of Sharon, Con- 
necticut, and daughter of the Rev. William Worthington, an eminent 
divine, foi*merly of Saybrook. There were ti-aits in the character of this 
woman too remarkable to be soon forgotten. To an understanding far 
above the common level of her sex, she united in as eminent a degree, 
pi-obably, as any one that ever lived, all those virtues that adorn and 
add lustre to a female, untainted even by the semblance of weakness 
or folly. In every domestic duty, equally with those which a long life 
of singular usefulness had rendered conspicuous, and under every dis- 
pensation of Providence, the same complacency and equanimity, the 
same dignified simplicity, the same reverence for our holy religion, 
shone with uniform grace and beauty. Nor wei'e prudence and fore- 
sight less distinguished features, the economy of ber household discov- 



APPENDIX C. 297 

ering a mind rich in taste and resources. Her cares were not confined 
to her own family. She sought out the poor and the afflicted, whom 
she reheved by every means in her power ; and, possessing equal skill, 
was often of more avail than a physician. So universal in its exercise 
was this disposition of kindness and benevolence, that in an extensive 
congregation she was claimed almost as a common parent. She knew 
no distinction between her own offspring and those whom the hand of 
Providence had, in numerous instances, placed under her protection 
and guidance. She was a pattern to all the wise and good ; her exam- 
ple admonished the refractory, and kept the licentious in awe : words 
of sweetness dwelt continually upon her lips, the natural effusions of her 
pious and affectionate heart. When society and friends are bereft of 
such models of excellence, they derive consolation from the belief 
that the reward of superior worth will be found in the realms of bliss. 



APPENDIX C. 

Address from the Connecticut Legislature to the President of the United 
States. 

Sir : The Legislature of the State of Connecticut is not in the habit 
of interfering in the administration of the general government, nor of 
obti'uding opinions or advice upon the councils of the Union. We have 
been accustomed to exhibit, as a fair and sufficient proof of our affection 
for the national Constitution, a imiform obedience to the laws, and an 
undeviating respect for the constituted authorities. But at a time when 
the American nation is deeply injured and instdted by the lawless ag- 
gressions and imperious claims of a foreign power — when our enemies 
profess to confide in our disunion, and boast of " the means" of severing 
the affections of om: citizens from the government of their choice, it 
would ill comport with our duty or om* feelings to repress the senti- 
ments by which we are animated. 

That the United States, extensively concerned in commercial inter- 
course, should have been in some degree affected by a war which des- 
olates Europe, was to be expected ; but that a neutrality strict and im- 
partial should be openly and insidiously attacked — that intrigues of a 
complexion and chai*acter the most formidable to our internal peace 
should be industriously practiced — that one ambassador should be re- 
fused an audience, and that three envoys sent expressly as messengers 
of peace should be treated with contemptuous neglect ; or, for their 
overtures so just and honorable, demands should be substituted the 
most insolent and insufferable, by the government of a nation assuming 
the high appellation of a great and magnanimous republic, was not to 



298 APPENDIX D. 

be believed till realized, and can be ascribed solely to a lust of dom- 
ination which knows no bounds, and to an abandonment of the princi- 
ples of morality and justice without example in the history of the world. 

Filled with astonishment and indignation at events which threaten 
our national existence, we highly applaud the dignity and firmness so 
conspicuously displayed by the executive, and the prompt and effica- 
cious measures adopted by the government, and we assure them of our 
firm and hearty support. 

We deprecate war, but we cherish our independence. It was won 
by a struggle too severe to be easily surrendered. We revere the 
names, the virtues, and the sufferings of our ancestors ; the inestimable 
gift of civic and religious freedom derived from them shall not be im- 
paired in our hands ; and no sacrifice of blood or treasure shall be es- 
teemed too dear to transmit the precious inheritance to posterity. 

Accept, sir, in this perilous hour, our most sincere wishes for your 
personal happiness, and for the peace and honor of the nation over which 
you preside. Reposing entire confidence in the wisdom and fortitude 
of our rulers, we commit them and the interests of this great people to 
the God of our fathers. 



APPENDIX D. 

Judicial Decisions of Governor Smith. 

The first case involved the privilege of a member of the Legislature 
from suits during the session. It was apparently not a very strong case 
in favor of the privilege. A writ of error was sued out and delivered 
to the officer, before the defendant was elected a member of the Legis- 
lature, and it was not returnable until after the close ol' the session ; but 
it had been served upon the defendant, not by an-esting him, but simply 
as a summons during the session, while he was in actual attendance as 
a member. This he pleaded in abatement of the writ of error. Judge 
Smith was of opinion, 1. That the service of the writ was an invasion 
of the defendant's privilege ; and, 2. That this matter was a sufficient 
ground of abatement. This opinion he supported by a few cogent 
reasons, clearly and neatly expressed, and there left the subject. The 
other judges concurred with him, except that one judge thought that 
an abatement of the suit was not the necessary consequence of a viola- 
tion of privilege. 

In another case, he led the way in asserting the doctrine that the 
owner of land bounded on a highway, owns the soil to the centre of 
that highway, subject only to the public right of passage. In the estab- 
lishment of this doctrine, he was aided by the vigorous mind of Judge 



APPENDIX D. 299 

Swift ; but he failed to gain for it the assent of a majority of the court, 
and but for another point in the case, in which all were agi-eed, the re- 
sult would have been the other way. Judge Smith hved to see this 
doctrine as well settled, here and elsewhere, as any maxun of the com- 
mon law, or any axiom of science. Being at that time the youngest 
member of the court, this opinion illustrates the independence of his 
mind, as well as the soundness of his judgment. 

Another case in which Judge Smith gave the first opinion, wherein 
a majority of the judges concurred, turned upon the diligence required 
of the assignee of a promissory note under a special assignment, and the 
competency of a witness u.nder the circumstances of the case. These 
subjects are treated by him with his usual perspicuity and neatness of 
expression ; but the case is not of sufficient public interest to require 
further notice. 

The last of the cases refeiTed to is of a different character. It em- 
braced some important points in the ecclesiastical as well as civil polity 
of the state. It was an action brought by the Second Ecclesiastical 
Society of Suffield against a lessee of the town, for a piece of land 
called the Ministry Meadow, which, in 1671 had been dedicated, by the 
proprietors, for the use of the ministry, to continue and be improved 
for that use forever. The second society was incorporated in 1740 ; 
and in 1797, the first society released its interest in the land to the 
second society for the use of the ministry. The lease of the town to 
the defendant was executed in 1794. The question was, whether the 
town had a right to appropriate this land to its owai use. The court 
decided unanimously that it had not, and designated Judge Smith to 
give the first opinion. After a few introductory remarks, he laid down 
the following principles: " The proprietors of a tract of laud intended 
for a town may appropriate or set apart a portion of their ten-itoiy for 
the support of the Gospel ministiy ; and this is deemed a valid ahena- 
tion, although there is neither alienee nor trustee then in being. 

" Whenever the town is incoi-porated, it is at once possessed of an ec- 
clesiastical as well as civil capacity. 

"In virtue of the foi-mer, it has power to call and settle ministers, to 
build places of public worship, to receive and hold real and personal 
estates for those uses, and to manage such lands or fimds as may have 
been originally dedicated to the same purposes. 

" The town continues to perfonn these functions, until a portion of 
the inhabitants shall be formed into a separate ecclesiastical society. 

" By this operation, the remaining inhabitants become, in fact and in 
name, ihe first society, and, as such, are instantly vested with all those 
rights which the town, in its ecclesiastical capacity, had before exer- 
cised. The Xo\vn thenceforth loses its two-fold character. It can no 



300 APPENDIX E. 

longer interfere in parochial affairs, but exists wholly as a civil corpo- 
ration." 

He then added : " Whatever might have been my opinion, if this 
were a case of first impression, I now feel myself bound to regard 
these as fundamental principles. They are so thoroughly interwoven 
with our whole system of tenures, that to disturb them would be equally 
inconsistent with private justice and public pohcy." 

From these premises, he came to the evident conclusion that the 
lease of the town was of no vahdity. The decision, it is believed, met 
the entire approbation of the profession and of the pubhc. 



APPENDIX E. 

les to the Legislature. 
The three following speeches, dehvered to the Legislature of Con- 
necticut in 1813 and 1814, are here given in full, chiefly for the hght 
they throw on the course of Governor Smith during the war, but also 
as specimens of his state papers. Their brevity stands in striking con- 
trast to the wearisome verboseness that has of late years become so 
fashionable. 

Speech, May, 1813. 
Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of 
Representatives : 
The events of the war in which we are engaged, admonish us that 
the states situated on the maritime frontier will be left, during the 
present campaign, to provide principally for their own defense. Hence 
an important duty is devolved upon their several Legislatures ; one 
which was, probably, not contemplated at the adoption of the national 
Constitution, but which seems to have arisen, necessarily, from the new 
and extraordinary condition in which we are placed. This state, 
bounded extensively on navigable waters, presents to an enemy many 
inviting objects of attack. The inhabitants at the most exposed points, 
m the absence of other means, look with confidence to their state gov- 
ernment for protection. The powers, vested for this purpose in the 
commander-in-chief by the resolutions heretofore passed, have been 
executed as far as circumstances would permit. But other measures 
will be found necessary, and you must allow me, gentlemen, to press 
the subject upon your early and serious consideration. A system of 
defense within the compass of our resources, and combining efficiency 
with economy, you will doubi\«^ss think it expedient to adopt with the 
least possible delay. The sums it may be necessary to appropriate to 



APPENDIX E. 301 

this object, we have a right to expect will ultimately be refunded by 
the general government ; it being an essential purpose of the confed- 
eracy, that expenses incurred in a common cause should be defrayed 
fi'om a common ti-easury. But, whatever may be the prospect of an 
eventual remuneration, I am persuaded you will leave no effort un- 
essayed to protect the lives and fortunes of your fellow-citizens. 

While the adversary is multiplying his means of annoyance, it be- 
comes an intei-esting inquixy, from whence our succors are to be ob- 
tained. The navy of the United States, although its achievements have 
astonished the world, is confessedly inadequate to the protection of the 
whole American coast. The regular army is employed in distant en- 
terprises. The militia, according to the decision of our executive, 
sanctioned by the Legislature, and, I may add, by the people, can not 
be required, from the obvious construction of the Constitution, merely 
to wait at posts and in garrisons for the possible advance of an enemy. 
In this state of things, we are, no doubt, prepared to appreciate those 
measures of precaution which were adopted at the last and preceding 
sessions of the General Assembly. 

The duties imposed on the executive by the "Act to establish a 
military corps for the defense of the State," have been generally per- 
formed; and, notwithstanding the difficulties experienced in accom- 
plishing the object, without materially deranging the ordinary militia, 
and the short lime which has elapsed since the recruiting service com- 
menced, I have the satisfaction to inform you that the enlistments have 
surpassed expectation. A force is thus provided which may not indeed 
be adequate to every emergency, but which will probably be sufficient 
to meet the first approaches of the enemy, and to sustain the conflict 
until the militia can be brought to their assistance. It will not, how- 
ever, escape your observation, gentlemen, that to render this force in a 
high degree efficient, fm-ther legislative provision is indispensable. 

The several companies of exempts associated under the "Act to 
raise certain volunteer corps," have been regularly formed, and their 
officers commissioned. Appointments to the higher grades of office 
were delayed, from the difficulty of locating the regiments while asso- 
ciations were forming in different parts of the state. It is hoped that 
at no distant day the organization may be completed. 

We can not commend too highly the zeal and alacrity displayed by 
the citizens composing these two distinct coqis. Men who have thus 
promptly entered into the service of the state, allured by no splendid 
promises of high wages and liberal bounties, exhibit a spirit of patriot- 
ism, and an elevation of character which, in the hour of trial, will not 
disappoint the hopes of their country. 

Our militia estabhshment will claim a degree of attention proper- 



302 APPENDIX E. 

tioned to the importance of the crisis. Its rapid advances in improve- 
ment, and the prospect that its entire services may be shortly required, 
will induce you to complete the refonns heretofore suggested, and to 
make those additional regulations the public exigencies demand. Al- 
though the militia of Connecticut are probably as well armed as those 
of our sister states, still we have to lament a very considerable defi- 
ciency in that essential article ; a deficiency, however, which would 
have been neai'ly, pei'haps wholly supplied, if the state had received 
her proportion of anus, pursuant to the " Act of Congress making appro- 
priations for arming the whole body of militia," passed the 23d of April, 
1808. The expenditures under this act, and the manner in which the 
arms already provided have been disposed of, will be seen in a report 
of the secretary of war, transmitted in obedience to a resolution of the 
House of Representatives at the last session of Congress, This docu- 
ment wdl be laid before you. On comparing it with the act just men- 
tioned, you will discover how far the provisions of the latter have been 
carried into effect. 

I have received from the Governor of North Carolina a copy of the 
resolution lately adopted by the Legislature of that state, recommend- 
ing an amendment of the Constitution of the United States in relation 
to the choice of electors of president and vice-president, and of rep- 
resentatives in Congress. I comply with the request of his excellency 
in laying the resolution before you. But I feel it my duty at the same 
time to remind you, gentlemen, that the General Assembly have hith- 
erto viewed this mode of originating amendments of the Constitution 
as not recognized in that instrument, and, on that ground, acceptable as 
the proposition may have been in principle, they have unifomily, I be- 
lieve, refused their concurrence. 

Amid the serious embarrassments occasioned by the war, and the 
antecedent restrictions upon commerce, we have the consolation to 
witness a remarkable progress in manufactures, and in the cultivation 
of the useful arts. The increase of domestic fabrics, and the extensive 
manufacturing establishments already in operation, fiirnish no slight 
evidence that the industiy and enterprise of our citizens, however 
resti-ained, are not wholly subdued. As the relations of master and 
apprentice are thus greatly multiplied, it merits consideration, should 
time permit, what further provision is necessary to enforce their re- 
ciprocal duties. Regulations especially which shall insure the ordi- 
nary means of education to the growing numbers of the young of both 
sexes, employed in the several factories, will evidently comport with 
that solicitude which our public councils, in all periods of our histoiy, 
have manifested for the intellectual and moral culture of the rising 
generation. 



APPENDIX E. 303 

'J. he freemen having failed to elect a lieutenant-governor, you will 
doubtless proceed at an eaiiy day in the session, to appoint a suitable 
person to that office. 

I will not detain you, gentlemen, by a particular allusion to the vari- 
ous matters which may properly employ your deliberations. 

A detailed view of the funds and resources of the state will, as usual, 
be submitted by the proper officers, and will demonstrate, I trust, that 
your fiscal concerns are managed with fidelity and success. The 
prosperous condition of our finances, the steady operation of the laws, 
and the internal tranquillity which has so happily prevailed, are subjects 
of fervent gratitude to Heaven in the midst of the severe national judg- 
ments with which we are visited. 

Assembled to direct the affairs of the Commonwealth at this moment- 
ous peiiod, you can not fail, gentlemen, to be impressed with the deep 
importance of united councils and decided measures. To perform with 
fidelity our federal engagements, and to maintain resolutely the indis- 
putable rights of this government against every aggression, with a hum- 
ble reliance on the protection of Divine Pi'ovidence, are high and sol- 
emn duties. On my part, there is a sincere disposition to co-operate 
in every attempt calculated to secure the present safety and durable 
prosperity of the state, and to advance the real interests of this nation. 

John Cotton Smith. 

Speech, October, 1813. 
Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the Hoiise of 
Representatives : 

The severe pressure of the war upon the people of this state gives 
unusual importance to the present session of the General Assembly. 

As I have conceived it necessary for the public safety to avail my- 
self of the enlarged powers delegated to the executive by the resolutions 
of the last Legislature, it is proper that I submit to your consideration a 
brief statement of the circumstances under which those powers have 
been exercised. 

When the United States' squadron took refuge in the harbor of New 
London, it was at once perceived that the decayed and feeble state of 
the fortifications afforded a precarious defense. The menacing appear- 
ance of the hostile squadron at the entrance of the harbor, and the 
strong probability that the town would be destroyed in the conflict, 
which was hourly expected, produced among its inhabitants the great- 
est consternation. In this moment of alarm, the major-general of the 
third division, and the brigadier-general of the third brigade, considered 
themselves justified, at the earnest entreaty of the citizens, in summon- 
ing the militia to their assistance. Having issued orders for that pur- 
pose, they immediately dispatched an express to me with intelligence 



304 APPENDIX E. 

of these transactions, and requested my particular directions. On this 
occasion, I could not hesitate as to the course which it became my 
duty to pursue. The government of Connecticut, the last to invite 
hostilities, should be the first to repel aggression. In my viewr, it was 
not a time to inquire into the character of our enemy, or the causes 
which made him such, when our territory was invaded, and our citi- 
zens were demanding protection ; and when no inconsiderable portion 
of our gallant navy was exposed, within our own waters, to instant cap- 
ture or destruction. I made no delay, therefore, in signifying to those 
officers my entire appi-obation of their conduct. The necessary sup- 
plies were immediately forwarded, and, generally, such measures of 
defense were adopted as the emergency evidently required. Informa- 
tion of these proceedings, and of subsequent operations at New London, 
was duly transmitted to the general government ; and the instructions 
of the president, in relation to this important subject, were requested. 
I received assurances from the national executive, that measures would 
be taken to put the fortifications on the eastern side of .the harbor of 
New London into a respectable state of defense ; that the wages of the 
militia, thus called into service under the authority of the state, should 
be paid from the national treasury ; and that provision would be made 
for liquidating and discharging the accounts of the commissary and 
quartermaster departments. 

The cause which first occasioned the array of a military force at 
New London has not ceased to operate. Accordingly, at the request 
of the general goveniment, a considerable body of troops has been 
kept at that station. I have endeavored, conformably to the advice 
of the council, to divide the duty between the militia and the military 
corps, and to spread detachments of the former over the several bri- 
gades. To men, however, who are accustomed to other pursuits, the 
service could not be otherwise than burdensome. The remark is par- 
ticularly applicable to the regiments in the vicinity of New London. 
From their proximity to the scene of action, they were, of course, first 
brought into the field ; and although they were dismissed as speedily 
as circumstances would permit, yet the frequent alarms produced by 
sudden augmentations of the enemy's force as frequently compelled 
them to return. They have suffered losses and privations, which could 
be equaled only by the patience and magnanimity with which they 
w^ere endured. Their hardships were unhappily increased by an oc- 
currence which, as it is intimately connected with these transactions, 
ought not to be omitted. An order from the war department for the 
dismission of all the militia then on duty, arrived at the moment a de- 
tachment from the distant bingades was on the march to relieve those 
who had been so repeatedly called into servdce. BeHeving the general 



APPENDIX E. 305 

goverament had the right of determining what degree of force would 
suffice to protect the national property, and being unwilling to obtrude 
the services of our citizens upon the pubHc when they were not desir- 
ed, especially at a season so very important to our husbandmen, I issued 
insti-uctions gi^^ng full effect'to the order. Scarcely, however, had the 
disbanded troops reached their several homes, before a request for the 
militia was renewed, enforced by an urgent petition from the principal 
inhabitants of New London and Groton. This combined application I 
felt no disposition to refuse. The requisite aid was immediately order- 
ed, but, from the necessity of the case, men who had been just dis- 
charged were obliged to repair again to the post of danger, and to 
remain until a new detachment could be levied and brought to their 
relief. The ground of this procedure is hitherto unexplained. 

The patriotism displayed by the officers and privates, both of the 
military corps and the militia, during the whole of this anxious period, 
merits the highest commendation. While their ready obedience to 
the first summons of their government has shown them to be the best 
of citizens, their strict attention to every part of military duty has 
proved them to be the best of soldiers. They have given the state in- 
disputable evidence of their attachment to its institutions, and of their 
ability to defend them. 

The British force stationed in our waters having occasioned great in- 
quietude along the whole of our maritime frontier, every precaution 
consistent with a due regard to the general safety has been adopted for 
its protection. Guards are placed at the points most exposed. In 
many towns on the coast, the citizens exempt from miUtary service, 
animated by a laudable zeal, have formed volunteer companies of ar- 
tillery pursuant to the act, and the quartermaster-general has received 
directions to supply them with ordnance. The resident militia, wheth- 
er infantry, artillery, or cavalry, have been excused from other duty, 
and are allowed to remain as a local defense ; and sufficient quantities 
of ammunition are distributed, suited to the various descriptions of 
force. In our present state of preparedness, it is believed a descent 
upon our coast will not be attempted; or, if attempted, a well-ground- 
ed hope is entertained that it will be attended with little success. 
Unfortunately, we have not the means of rendering our navigation 
equally secure. Serious depredations have been committed even in 
our harbors, and to such an extent that the usual communication 
through the Sound is almost wholly interrupted. Thus, while anxiously 
engaged in protecting our public ships, we are doomed to witness the 
unrestrained capture of our private vessels, and the consequent suspen- 
sion of commercial pursuits. These, it must be admitted, are necessary 
effects of a state of war, but they are not the less to be deplored. 



306 APPENDIX E. 

In obedience to a resolution of the Assembly, passed at the last 
session, I made immediate application to the government of the United 
States for the proportion of arms to which the militia of this state is eu- 
titled, under the Act of Congress making appropriations for that ob- 
ject; and I have the satisfaction to inform you that two thousand stands 
are received. By the act just mentioned, it is made the duty of the 
Legislature to provide by law for their distribution. 

The various military supplies authorized by the resolves of the last 
session, have been, for the most part, procured. The wisdom of the 
Legislature in these preparatory measures became sufficiently evident 
from the events which soon after occurred. As the United States were 
not in a condition to provide tents, camp equipage, or the suitable am- 
munition, our troops were furnished in these respects, and for a con- 
siderable time with subsistence also, by the quartermaster-general and 
commissary-general of the state. 

You will perceive the expediency, gentlemen, of carefully reviewing 
the " Act for forming and conducting the military force of this state.^^ 
Several obvious amendments are suggested by the present circumstan- 
ces of the country. Among others, it is desirable that the penalty for 
refusing or neglecting to perform a tour of duty, agreeably to the pi'o- 
visions of the act, should be rendered more definite, if not more efficient. 
You will also consider the propriety of prescribing rules for the govern- 
ment of the militia, while in actual service under the authority of the 
state. Although recent experience may have shown that an habitual 
love of order and subordination supersedes, in a great measure, the 
necessity for any new restraints, still you will reflect whether it is 
either prudent or safe to remain, in this respect, destitute of any posi- 
tive regulations. 

It will not be expected, gentlemen, that I should recommend partic- 
ularly to your notice the various subjects which usually occupy the 
deliberations of the Assembly. They are confined principally to affairs 
of a local nature, and will not escape your observation. Our political 
system calls for no theoretical reforms, nor does our happy state of 
society depend upon a multiplication of laws. I should rejoice in 
being permitted to announce to you that our prospects abroad coiTe- 
spond with that degree of quiet and security to be found at home. 

Gentlemen, the progress of the war aifords little hope that its calam- 
ities will soon come to an end. The characteristic braveiy of our 
seamen, in whatever service they are engaged, is indeed a just theme 
of national exultation ; and it is devoutly to be wished that our naval 
triumphs may produce an auspicious effect upon this unhappy contest, 
the evils of which are seen and felt m whatever concerns the real 
prosperity of the country. To mitigate these evils, you will be dispos- 



APPENDIX E. 307 

ed to employ every faculty which the structure of our government 
allow^s you to exercise ; and if any constitutional effort on your part 
may contribute to remove them, I am persuaded it will not be with- 
held. The sentiments of the people of Connecticut upon this moment- 
ous subject can not be misunderstood. Their disapprobation of the 
war was publicly declared, through the proper organ, shortly after 
hostilities commenced ; accompanied with an assurance that the ob- 
ligations imposed by the Constitution should, nevertheless, be strictly 
fulfilled. If no event has occurred to vary their opinion, the highest 
evidence is furnished of fidelity to their engagements. They have 
pursued that honorable course which regards equally the legitimate 
claims of the confederacy, and the rights and dignity of their own 
government. 

It is with peculiar satisfaction, gentlemen, that I meet you in General 
Assembly at this interesting period. I cheerfully submit to your ex- 
amination those measures which the crisis seemed to demand, and 
which my best judgment led me to adopt. And I shall cheerfully ac- 
cept your counsel and direction relative to that line of conduct which 
the executive ought to observe, as well under the circumstances which 
now exist, as in those emergencies which will probably arise. 

While we implore the smiles of Divine providence upon our en- 
deavors to promote the public welfare, let us be thankful that amid 
the distresses of war so much internal tranquillity has prevailed, and 
that, notwithstanding the revolutions which agitate the world, we still 
enjoy the privileges of freemen, with dispositions to defend and per- 
petuate these inestimable blessings. John Cotton Smith. 

Speech, May, 1814. 
Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of 
Representatives : 

Since the last session of the General Assembly, it appears that nego- 
tiations for peace have commenced between the United States and the 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. To the people and gov- 
ernment of this state, whose sentiments respecting the origin and prog- 
ress of the war are well known, any sincere and honoi-able endeavors 
to bring it to a close could not fail to be acceptable. Negotiations, 
however, in the midst of active hostilities, are as unpromising as they 
are unusual. If there existed no intrinsic difficulties in settling the 
terms of accommodation, this circumstance alone should induce us to ad- 
mit with caution the expectation of a favorable result. 

I am not infonned that any effectual arrangements are made by the 
national government to put our sea-coast into a more respectable state 
of defense. Should the plan of the last campaign be revived, and es 



803 APPENDIX E. 

pecially should the war retain the desolating character it ha, been 
Lde to assume, the states on the Atlantic border can not be msensAle 
To he dangers ;hich await them. " To provide for the conjnton de- 
„re" wa,\n avowed, aud it may with truth be said, *e Cnef Purpose 
for which the present Constitution was formed. How far th,s objec 
is promoted by aiming at foreig.t conquest, and restgntng our most 
lalthy and populous frontier to pillage and devastafon. become a 
momentous inquiry. Whatever measures, ?-'l--"'.>;°" "^^ *"^ 
proper to adopt o„ the occasion, I feel assured they - » «°- ^^ ^ 
equal regard to your own rights and to the mterests of the Umon^ In 
any event, I am persuaded that we shall place no rehance on the for- 
belrance of a declared enemy, and that if the a,d to wh.* - re en 
titled is withheld, the means which God has given us wdl be faithfully 

"t::^Z^!^ before you an ofiicial account of the destmc 
tion of a very considemble number of private vessels at SaybrooU, by 
a detachmenlfrom the British squadron. The -■«f°-"--"*^ 7^^^ 
by the reflection that it would probably have been P/^^'f J^f ^ ™f 
fo'rce stationed in Fort Fenwick, at the -"--^ "^ '^"""^^ ^'g^r; 
It will be recollected that a guard, anthonzed by *^ "■" f J ''^ ; 
was kept at that post nearly the whole of the last season It was d,s 
mLsed eal in December Information of the exposed cond.tton of 
Z: vesS, and of the consequent apprehensions of the town for ^s 
own safety was duly transmitted to the war department, and the at 
eTi: the government to these important objects was ean,estly so- 
ic Id It wal presumed, as there were regular troops m the vcmtty, 
eUl er that the request would be promptly complied wtth or tf such 
an ar an-ement was inconvenient, that this government wou d be frank- 
Iv and s°easonably apprised of it. In the latter event, the force of the 
Ue won Uhave'b e'en applied not less readily to the protection of the 
state woma ^^^^^ .^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^^^ j^fe„,^ 

7r:^Z^loi Under the circumstances thett existing, the 
:I"hom 'particularly consulted, could not th.nk tt advisable 
for the state government to interfere. 

The facilit; with which this enterprise was effected having embo d- 
enld the enemy to approach other harbors on the Sound, I have felt it 
my dut "t the urgent request of the inhabitants, to direct troops to 
Te stationed at varies points, and to adopt other measures of precanUon 
sui d to the occasion.' I rejoice that so soon after these occuirence 
itm permitted to avail myself of the assistance and direction of the 



General Assembly 

deficircy in field artillery. The particular description of ^us which 



In reviewing our means of defense, gentlemen, you wiUperceive^a 



APPENDIX E. 309 

were ordered by a former resolution of the Assembly, it has been found 
impracticable to obtain ; and yet such additions are made to the corps 
of artillerists by the organization of the state troops, and the patriotism 
of military exempts, that we are brought to the alternative of disband- 
ing some of the companies, or of supplying them with ordnance. These 
additions to our military strength are indeed temporary, and will cease 
with the causes that produced them; but the guns you may now pro- 
cure must be an acquisition of permanent value, especially if it should 
be thought expedient to convert a portion of the cavalry into flying ar- 
tillery — a change which, it is believed, would be highly acceptable to 
them, and which, it is obvious, must add greatly to our effective force. 

While bestowing your usual attention upon the militia, you will not 
lose sight of the importance of establishing a system of regulations for 
their government, when in actual service under the authority of the 
state. A plan for that purpose was devised, but not matured, at the 
last session. On this subject I will barely remark, that militia com- 
posed principally of substantial citizens, with whom war is not a pro- 
fession, and whose love of civil order is habitual, must be presumed 
not to require those rigid rules enforced by sanguinary punishments, 
which have been deemed indispensable in a regular army. 

Although our navigation will be necessarily embarrassed by a con- 
tinuance of the war, we have the consolation of beholding it at length 
freed from the restraints of our own government. As the principal 
reason assigned for imposing the last restrictions existed in Ml force 
at the time of their removal, we have grounds to conclude that the 
whole system is relinquished, from a persuasion that it is unauthorized 
by any provision of the Constitution, as well as from a conviction of 
its injurious effects upon the best interests of the country. In this 
view of the subject, we may indulge the hope that individual industry 
and commercial enterprise will not in future be subdued nor discour- 
aged by novel and hazardous experiments, and that the benefits of a 
correct and stable policy will be seen and appreciated. 

The encouragement already extended by the Legislature to the man- 
ufacturing interests of the state, has been amply rewarded. I trust 
establishments for these objects are not multiplied beyond what the 
probable condition of the country, upon the return of an active com- 
merce, will be found to justify, and that we may therefore congratulate 
ourselves on an important increase of productive capital, with the pros- 
pect of its being permanently and advantageously employed. Should 
the General Assembly also lend a fostering hand to agriculture and do- 
mestic manufactures, the effect could not be otherwise than eminently 
beneficial. The cultivators of the soil have a just claim^to the patron- 
age of every well-regulated government ; while no principle in poht- 



310 APPENDIX F. 

icai ecouomy is more evident than that an improved state of husband- 
ry, and of the arts associated with it, is a direct augmentation of the 
essential resources of the Commonwealth. 

The demands upon the treasury in consequence of our various mih- 
taiy preparations, v^dll suggest the expediency of improving the funds 
of the state, if it can be accomplished without adding materially to the 
burdens already felt by our constituents. The expense, both of blood 
and treasure, ai'isiug from the present contest, is perhaps not more to 
be lamented than its unhappy influence upon the political institutions 
and moral principles of the nation. If we can not restore peace, we 
may do much to diminish the baneful effects of war. Such expedients, 
gentlemen, as you may propose, to check the progress of licentiousness 
and impart energy to the laws, shall receive my zealous co-operation. 

Gentlemen, notwithstanding the nation is unfortunately involved in 
the struggles which have long agitated the eastern continent, let us be- 
ware of allowing our passions or prejudices to be engaged in the con- 
flicting interests of the Old World. The wonderful changes continually 
occurring in that region will produce their proper efiect here, by ad- 
m.onishiug us of the evils of unprincipled ambition and a thirst of con- 
quest, and by teaching us to place a just estimate upon our own happy 
forms of government. We are urged by a sense of honor, as well as 
of duty, to avoid foreign predilections, and to cherish a real love of our 
country; to extinguish, within the reach of our influence, that spirit 
of political animosity, which is destructive of the remedial powers of 
the Constitution, to wait patiently for the free and efficient operation 
of public opinion, and in the mean time, with an humble trust in Divine 
Providence, to resist firmly, and from whatever quarter, every en- 
croachment upon our rights. John Cotton Smith. 



APPENDIX F. 

Fast-Dai/ Proclamation. 
As a specimen of the Christian character of his official papers, one of 
his proclamations of the annual State Fast is here given. There is in 
them a clear, distinct recognition of the Christian faith, and a deep 
sense of the sovereignty of the Lord in all the affairs of men, such as is 
most befitting to a Christian magistrate, and would ever find a quick 
response in the hearts of a truly Christian people. 

Bi/ his Excellency John Cotton Smith, Esq., Governour and Command- 
er-in-Chief in and over the State of Connecticut: A Proclamation. 
From a just view of their dependence upon the Most High for every 



APPENDIX F. 311 

temporal and spiritual blessing, the people of this state have been ac- 
customed to devote a day in each year, to the sacred purpose of public- 
ly acknow^ledging the supremacy of that Being whose Providence con- 
trouls alike the affairs of individuals and of nations ; of lamenting their 
abuse of His mercies, and their insensibility under His frowns ; and of 
beseeching him, through the merits of the Redeemer, to forgive their 
past ingratitude, to bestow upon them those favours which are essential 
to their comfort here, and, by a sanctified use of His dispensations, to 
prepare them for the exalted pleasures of a future and a brighter world. 

To the intent, therefore, that this laudable usage may not be neglect- 
ed, I have thought proper to appoint, and I do hereby appoint, Friday, 
the twelfth Day of April next, to be observed throughout this state as 
a day of Public Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer. And I earnest- 
ly call upon ministers and people of all denominations, to assemble on 
that day in their respective places of rehgious worship ; that before our 
Heavenly Father we may bring to remembrance our individual and 
national transgressions, the ungrateful returns we have made for His 
unnumbered blessings, our disregard of his judgments as well as of the 
great deliverances He has wrought for us, and our criminal neglect of 
the denunciations of His Law, and the gracious invitations of His Gos- 
pel. And whilst with deep contrition and abasement we contemplate 
our unwortliiness in his sight, let us with humble hope and confidence 
look for pardon and acceptance to that atonement which has been per- 
fected by the blood of His Son, and implore the assistance of His Holy 
Spirit to reform our lives, and to consecrate them to His Service ; that 
by a course of sincere and cheerful obedience we may secure " His 
favour, which is life," and " His loving kindness, which is better than 
Ufe." 

And I do recommend that fervent prayers be offered to Almighty 
God for His blessing upon the various interests and concerns of the 
state, upon our civil and religious institutions, our schools and semina- 
ries of learning, and upon the several associations which have been 
formed for the alleviation of human suffering, and for the advancement 
of science and virtue : that He would graciously impart wisdom to our 
councils, fidelity to our judicial and executive officers, and a spirit of 
concord and unanimity to our citizens : that He would impress us with 
a solemn sense of His afflictive visitations, especially in removing by 
death those who have held distinguished places of public trust, and 
have been the honoured instruments of promoting the prosperity of the 
Commonwealth ; and that from time to time He would raise up and 
qualify such to fill the various departments of government, as shall be 
influenced by a regard to Hia glory and the best good: of their coun- 
tr}^ : that He would prosper us in all our lawful pursuits, in our com- 



312 APPENDIX G. 

merce, manufactures, and husbandry, and crown the opening year with 
health and peace, and a competent supply of the fruits of his bounty : 
that " with favour he would encompass us as with a shield," and make 
us a people to his praise : that it would please him to afford his pater- 
nal care to the several states of the Union, and to the government es- 
tablished for their common interest and safety: that he would bless 
the President and Congress, and so direct their consultations and en- 
deavours, as that the freedom and independence, the tranquillity and 
happiness of this extensive Republic may be secured and transmitted 
to the latest generations : that he would put an end to the sufferings 
of mankind from ignorance, and violence, and oppression, and accom- 
pany with almighty power the efforts of the Christian world to extend 
the knowledge of his glorious Gospel, until all nations shall receive 
and obey its divine precepts, and own the universal reign of the Prince 
OF Peace. 

All servile labour and vain recreation on said day are by law for- 
bidden. 

Given under my hand at Hartford, the nineteenth day of Febnxary, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, 
and in the fortieth year of the Independence of the United States 
of America. 

John Cotton Simith. 
By his Excellency's command, 
Thomas Day, Secretary. 



APPENDIX G. 

Bible Society Addresses. 
Governor Smith was seldom absent from the annual meetings of the 
Bible Society, and the addresses which he delivered on these occa- 
sions were distinguished for a felicitous succession of topics, and the 
simplicity and chaste beauty with which they were handled. Two or 
three of them are subjoined. 

Address, May, 1839. 
My respected Friends : 
There are few occasions more impressive than the annual meetings 
of this society ; for no institution of human origin can be more sacred 
in its object, or more benign in its influence on the happiness and the 
hopes of men. To be constituted almoners of God's richest gift to our 
race ; to be enabled by his bounty to offer the wandering and lost pil- 
grim a sure guide to his final home, cheering his way thither with the 



APPENDIX G. 313 

purest joys and the brightest anticipations, is a privilege and a distinc- 
tion for which we should render our most humble and grateful adora- 
tion. In view of the Divine Beneficence toward the American people, 
it would become them to adopt the language of the shepherd-king of 
Israel, when contemplating his elevation from the sheepfold to a throne, 
" What am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought 
me hitherto !" Who, at the period of our Revolution — and some of us 
have a distinct remembrance of its soul-stirring scenes — who, I repeat, 
could have imagined that this young country, then bleeding at every 
pore, would so soon not only attain to her present height of worldly 
greatness, but would also exhibit the phenomenon of sending the Bible 
to the Old World ! Yea, of sending the light of divine truth to the 
region whence it first emanated, the sacred ground where the Redeem- 
er i-evealed his mission of love and sealed it wdth his blood ! to coun- 
tries visited and taught by his apostles, to Persia, and India, and those 
far-distant islands, where the transforming power of this wonderful 
book is at the present moment exciting universal astonishment ! Nor 
have our aborigines, and Africa, and even civilized Europe, been whol- 
ly overlooked in this broad scheme of Christian philanthropy. If a re- 
view of these transactions may justly produce a virtuous exultation, we 
must look for its legitimate efiect in corresponding exertions to meet 
the multiplied appeals to our benevolence from these and other desti- 
tute portions of the globe. The increasing demand for the Holy Scrip- 
tures affords exhilarating evidence of the successful progi-ess of tiiith, 
and of the zeal and faithfulness of the excellent men who are employed 
in its promulgation. To us these soldiers of the cross confidently look 
for their spiritual annor, for that mysterious word which is at once 
" the sword of the Spirit" and '* the balm" of heavenly consolation. 
Shall they look in vain ? Shall their draughts upon your board be dis- 
honored ? Will the friends of the Bible faint and tire in its cause ? 
Never, while there shall be found on earth one desolate heart to ask for 
the Word of Life, or one empty hand extended to receive it ! 

In furtherance of the enterprise in which we are engaged, your Board 
of Managers have rendered an essential service, by a careful collation 
of their authorized copy of the sacred text with a.fac simile of our un- 
rivaled version as it came from the hands of the translators, and with 
numerous intervening copies of different dates in the Society's library. 
The task was arduous, but the gentlemen who achieved it felt them- 
selves abundantly rewarded by the high gratification of finding no ma- 
terial departiu-e from the genuine copy — nothing more, indeed, than 
discrepancies in punctuation, and other particulars equally unimportant. 
With augmented confidence, therefore, have the board-recoramended 
the English version as the model to all, who, under our auspices, are 

o 



311 APPENDIX G. 

translating the Bible in other languages. Nor have they scrupled to 
give their unqualified sanction to the course pursued by our translators 
in adopting, or, as it is called, transferring the original word wherever 
an equivalent term can not be found in the foreign tongue. And a 
perfect coincidence of this kind can scarcely be expected in any sup- 
posable case. It certamly did not exist between the two most copious 
and polished languages of pagan antiquity. The Greek and Latin 
tongues reciprocated transfers in repeated instances. When the early 
Christian fathers rendei'ed the original Greek of the New Testament 
into Latin, they found it necessary to adopt and Latinize the most im- 
portant of the identical words which, from the same necessity, were 
subsequently adopted and anglicized by our translators. On the other 
hand, when the Roman laws were translated into Greek for the use of 
the Oi-iental Empire, the learned jurists of the imperial courts employed 
in that service, foimd many cases in which the whole Greek vocabula- 
ry was utterly inadequate to a just expression of the meaning of the 
original. What was to be done? Without hesitation, and ''without 
regard to Attic elegance," they transferred the original term itself, 
barely giving to the Latin word the sonorous termination of their own 
more musical language. And what course can be more unexceptiona- 
ble ? What more equitable, especially in cases where a diversity of 
construction may possibly arise ? What thanks are due to a superin- 
tending Providence for thus allowing a perfect freedom of interpreta- 
tion to every section of the Christian Church ! 

But in extending our views to distant nations, let us not lose sight of 
our own From the rapid increase of our native population, as well as 
from foreign accessions, many families in almost eveiy part of our coun- 
tiy must now be destitute of a Bible. To whom shall this important 
department be confided? If our American youth generally would 
emulate the noble spirit of the yomig men in this city, the work, we 
have reason to believe, might be speedily accomplished. It is worthy 
of particular notice, that of numerous auxiliaries, if many have equaled, 
no one has exceeded the "Young Men's Bible Society" here in gener- 
ous and wisely-directed measures to promote the great objects of the 
Parent Institution. This is, indeed, to "remember their Creator" ia 
its appropriate and most affecting sense, in a way to insure blessings 
not less invaluable to themselves than to the recipients of their bounty. 
It is cheeiing to observe that the youth of some other cities are copy- 
ing, with commendable zeal, this bright example. Should it be fol- 
lowed throughout the Eepublic,"who can estimate its auspicious bearing 
on the destinies of this nation ! With what transport would the dying 
patriot resign his country into the hands of a generation who shall have 
consecrated the morning of life to so glorious a purpose ! 



APPENDIX G. 315 

W iiile with grateful hearts we recognize the smiles of heaven upon 
the operations of the board during the past year, we deeply feel the 
afflictive dispensations of a holy Providence in removing by death the 
vice-presidents Bolton and Van Rensselaer since the last anniversary. 
The former, a highly-respected citizen, had sustained the office from 
the first organization of the Society ; and after his removal from Geor- 
gia to this city, he was punctual in his attendance at the Board of Man- 
agers, where his faithful services will be long and affectionately remem- 
bered. The gentleman last named has left testimonials of his worth 
too numerous and distinguished to require the tribute of my humble 
eulogy. Still it is due to private friendship to say, that from the com- 
mencement of our acquaintance in early youth to his lamented depart- 
ure, I have regarded his career with unmingled admiration. Who, in 
tnith, has not admired the proofs of his cultivated and well-balanced 
miind, his supexiority to the blandishments of fortune, the dignified sim- 
plicity of his demeanor, his elevated and straightforward course as a 
statesman, liis humble and exemplaiy walk as a Christian, the monu- 
ments, on all sides, of his public munificence, and, what is more, the 
gentle flow of that heaven-born charity which, with the silence of the 
dew, he shed on the cottage of the widow and the fatherless, and upon 
"him that had no helper!" Sorely his record and his reward ax-e on 
high ! 

During the same period, also, we have been called to mourn the de- 
mise of the venerable Boyd, an active and useful member of the board 
from its earliest establishment, and whose virtuous life has afforded a 
well-founded hope of a blessed immortaHty. Would that I might here 
have closed this sad obituary ; but we who have beheld in the late 
president of the Wesleyan University the steadfast friend and patron of 
this Society, and have felt the power of his eloquence at our annual 
celebrations, must be indulged in the expression of unfeigned sorrow 
at the early termination of his valuable life ; a life eminently devoted 
to the advancement of religion and sound learning — in a word, to the 
best and highest interests of his fellow-men. Short as has been his 
pilgrimage, lasting will be the memorials of his extended usefulness ; 
and although his voice shall be no more heard with delight in an earth- 
ly temple, we trust it is attuned to more exalted strains in the paradise 
above. 

Smce such, my brethren and friends, are the consolations under sore 
bereavements which are derived fi'om the precious volume we profess 
to circulate, let our sympathies be alive to the davk and hopeless oou' 
dition of the many millions of the human race upon whom the Sun of 
Righteousness has never risen with healing in t^is beams. 



316 APPENDIX G. 

Address, May, 1842. 
My respected Friends : 

T trust it is with a becoming sense of the Divine goodness that I ara 
allowed, at my advanced age, the unexpected pleasure of attending 
this sacred festival, and of uniting with you in a thankful acknowledg- 
ment of the smiles of Heaven upon the transactions of the Society the 
past year. 

We can scarcely commend too warmly the officers and agents of the 
board for their active and meritorious services ; nor ought we to with- 
hold the just meed of praise from the Auxiliaries, who readily complied 
■with the desire expressed at the last anniversaiy for a re-survey of 
their respective districts, and the supply of any families which might 
be found destitute of the Holy Scriptui-es. 

It is hoped the good work may be prosecuted by others to the full 
accomplishment of the object. 

The several affiliated societies in this city have uniformly manifested 
a most exemplary liberality in sustaming the general objects of the 
Parent Institution, and in distributing the Word of Life not only to the 
needy of their own population, but also to seamen in merchant vessels, 
and destitute foreigners arriving on our shores. Their example has 
been followed in a truly praiseworthy manner by the Yomig Men's 
Bible Society in Cincinnati, who have not only distributed with alacrity 
the bounty of the Parent Board among the boatmen and river-men on 
the Western waters, but who have generously supplied from their own 
funds the steamboats on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers each with two 
copies of the Bible, to the number of two hundred and eighty-two ves- 
sels, since the commencement of the operation. It is pleasant to add, 
their bounty has proved so acceptable to the recipients, that the Society 
has resolved to extend it to all future cases. 

The formation of a Bible Society in the Sandwich Islands, recent- 
ly recognized by the board as an auxiliary, is an event not less aston- 
ishing, than delightful to every benevolent heart. Within the recol- 
lection of many in this assembly, those islanders exhibited a ferocity 
of character unsurpassed in the history of savage life. Such, however, 
is the transforming power of the religion of the Bible, that in places 
where deeds of unparalleled atrocity were perpetrated, may now be 
seen spacious temples erected and consecrated to Jehovah, and throng- 
ed with enlightened and devout worshipers. We may well adopt 
the language of the Psalmist, " This is the Lord's doing! It is marvel- 
ous in our eyes !" 

You must have learned, with evident satisfaction, that at the instance 
of the General Agent of the Virginia Auxiliary, the Secretary of the 



APPENDIX G. 317 

Na\7- has issued an order to the commandants of the Navy Yards to 
supply each mess in the respective crev^^s of public vessels entering on 
serN-ice with a copy of the Holy Scriptui'es — an aiTangement replete 
with consummate wisdom and an elevated Christian sj^irit. If the navy 
may be justly pronounced the right arm of the nation, it eminently be- 
comes those who wield that arm to acknowledge and to feel their de- 
pendence on " the right hand of the Most High," and their obhgation to 
reverence and glorify his name. It is a cheering thought that the ex- 
terior defense of the country is confided to ships replenished with the 
Word of God ; and that while our gallant seamen may carry terror and 
discomfiture to our avowed enemies, they may bear to distant and bar- 
barous climes, instead of the thunder of artillery, the song of angels ! 
" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good- will toward 
men !" Should the other Christian powers adopt a similar course, no 
conceivable measure would tend more directly to promote the peace 
and friendly intercourse of nations, and ultimately to insure the tran- 
quillity of the world. 

Analogous to this beneficent operation is the late circular of the Sec- 
retaiy of State and Superintendent of Common Schools in the State of 
New Yoz-k, recommending the New Testament as a class-book in the 
district schools of the state. The subject of furnishing schools vdth 
the Bible has seriously engaged the attention of this society ; and it is 
gi-atifying to find the views here entertained ably supported in the doc- 
ument to which I have referred. The remarks of the secretary, how- 
ever, would estabHsh with equal clearness the expediency of giving 
the schools the benefit of the w^hole Bible. It is the glory of that pre- 
cious volume, that, aside from its intimate connection with our immortal 
destiny, it contains treasures of wisdom and knowledge adapted to ev- 
ery condition of human life, and to every grade of intellectual capacity. 
While it fiu*nishes themes for the vigorous exercise of the loftiest rninds, 
it affords abundant means of illumination and improvement to the most 
limited understanding. 

If learners of mature years are edified and delighted with the histor- 
ical and preceptive, the beautifiil and sublime portions of the Bible, 
those of a tender age are scarcely less affected with its touching nan-a- 
tives, its divinely parental counsels, and the affectionate concern for 
the present and eternal welfare of children and youth, so mercifully 
revealed in its sacred pages. In short, no human being can be deemed 
educated who has not been brought under moral culture. And where 
shall we look for a perfect system of ethics but in the Scriptures of 
truth ? Surely that scheme of elementary instruction must be incom- 
plete which excludes them from the primary schools.^ And such was 
the early sentiment of the fathers of this nation. 



318 APPENDIX G. 

They placed the Bible in all their schools as an essential element of 
education — an indispensable preparative for usefulness in this life, as 
well as for the joys of the life to come ; and what was the result 7 
Clear views of duty to God, and a just estimate of individual and social 
rights and obligations, the only sure basis of private pi'osperity and na- 
tional greatness. If the hallowed influence of this system was ti-iumph- 
antly tested durnig the memorable contest for our national sovereignty, 
be assured it has in no degree lost its efficiency ; and faint is the hope 
of perpetuating the rich inheritance then acquired, but by recurring to 
the same system. 

Among the applications to the board for aid in translating and pub- 
lishing the Holy Scriptures in foreign lands, is an interesting communi- 
cation from the American Mission at Constantinople, announcing that, 
by the blessmg of God, the translation of the Old Testament into the 
Armeno-Turkish language is at length completed ; that of the New 
Testament having been previously accomplished. The task, it appears, 
was attended with serious difficulties, and required several years for 
its performance. A well-grounded confidence in the superior learning 
and high Christian character of the translators, entitles the work to the 
grateful acceptance of the numerous and comparatively intelligent peo- 
ple for whom it is designed. Two things in the report are worthy of 
particular observation. The first is, the thorough preparedness of the 
translators for their undertaking. Although the missionaiy was well in- 
structed in the Hebrew text, he felt, as every foreigner should feel, the 
immeasurable importance of an intimate knowledge of the language 
into which the original was to be rendered. He was therefore indefat- 
igable in his efforts to acquire it. After all, he felt constrained, from 
abundant caution, to employ a learned and pious native as his assist- 
ant : an example of prudence and fidelity worthy of imitation in all 
similar cases. Secondly : as these translators diligently consulted the 
English version, an opportunity was thus afforded of comparing it crit- 
ically with the Hebrew original. The opinion, therefore, though inci- 
dentally expressed, that it should "remain untouched," commends it- 
self to the serious reflection of every considerate mind at the present 
day. That we are favored with a translation of the Holy Scriptures 
altogether superior to every other in any language, ancient or modern, 
is the concurring testimony of the most competent judges in every pe- 
riod since its promulgation. 

It was executed with unexampled care, after years of prayerful de- 
liberation and unwearied labor, by a body of men unrivaled for pro- 
found learning and eminent piety, at a period, too, most propitious to 
a perfect exemption from sectarian partiality or prejudice. Hence, the 
various evangelical denominations which either previously or subse-^ 



APPENDIX G. 319 

quently appeared in the Christian Church, have, with remarkable uni- 
formity, given it their imphcit confidence. As an entii'e work, I have 
never heard of its condemnation in a single instance. If dissatisfaction 
is manifested with certain parts of it, even malcontents of this descrip- 
tion, it is believed, would be unwilling, in the present state of the 
world, that a new translation, or even its xnodification, should be at- 
tempted, although proposed to be done by a convention of delegates 
fi-ora all the respective denominations ; for it is most obvious that una- 
nimity in such an enterprise must be utterly hopeless — as hopeless as 
the voluntary surrender of their peculiar tenets, and their consolidation 
into a religious conamunity " one and indivisible." 

And such must have been the impression of the illustrious men who 
framed the Constitution of this Society. Aware of the evil which would 
inevitably result from a love of novelty and of change, when applied to 
the most momentous of all subjects, they wisely exacted a strict con- 
formity, in all our issues from the press, to the version of the Holy 
Scriptures " then in common use" — a regulation imperative upon the 
members of this society, indi\ddually and collectively. As the English 
version thus becomes, in effect, the conservatory of the English tongue, 
it behooves us to acknowledge with heartfelt gratitude that, through 
the good Providence of God, early in the eighteenth century, the or- 
ihography of the translation was so amended as to render it conforma- 
ble to that of Addison and the other distinguished authors of that peri- 
od ; a period desen^edly styled " the Augustan age of English litera- 
tui*e," in which the language is justly considered as having arrived at 
its maturity. The editions of the Bible since published ''by authority" 
in England, and by this Society since it commenced operations, have 
appeared in this purified form of the language, a form which embodies 
the noblest products of the human mind — in a word, our best htera- 
ture, as well as our brightest hopes. The unspeakable importance of 
maintaining the existing version unchanged, will be apparent if we 
consider how rapid is the increase of our population ; how soon the 
English language may pervade this entire continent, and the vast terri- 
tories subject to British sway, in all quarters of the globe ; and the con- 
sequent demands which must accimiulate upon this Institution, and its 
great exemplar, the British and Foreign Bible Society, to famish the 
requisite supply of the Holy Scriptures, in uniform orthography, for 
these countless myriads of immortal beings. 

But I may not enlarge. Permit me, in conclusion, to say, the sub 
ject, independently of its intrinsic importance, is endeared to us by 
many tender associations. This blessed book has come down to us 
from ancestors who, we trust, through faith and patience, have inherit- 
ed its promises. Every page has been wet with tears, either of " pen- 



320 APPENDIX G. 

itential sonrow" or of sacred joy, from " eyes that will weep no more," 
On tliis Society, my respected and beloved associates, is devolved the 
high trust of transmitting it unimpaired, unaltered, to the remotest 
generations. May its glorious Author incline the hearts of aU. through- 
out the world, who speak and write the English tongue, to faithfully 
preserve and widely circulate the choicest gift of his munificent Provi- 
dence ! 

Address, May, 1843. 
My respected Friends : 

I had hoped for the pleasure of joining you in the celebration of our 
twenty-seventh anniversary ; but denied by a righteous Providence the 
privilege of a personal interview, I have presumed that a brief commu- 
nication may not be unacceptable. 

It is with peculiar satisfaction that I unite with you in a thankful ac- 
knowledgment of the Divine blessing on the transactions of the Board 
of Managers during a year of unusual pecuniary embarrassment ; also 
in w^armly commending the active co-operation of many of our auxiha- 
ries, the unwearied diligence and faithfulness of the secretaries, treas- 
urer, and agents of the Society, and, notw^ithstanding the pressure of 
the times, the generous manner in which the judicious and salutary 
measm-es of the board have been svistained by our fellows-citizens at 
large, who seem more and more impressed with the infinite importance 
of the enterprise in which we are engaged. Although the operations 
of the board will be disclosed in their report, suffer me to point your 
attention to a few particulars. 

The managers have wisely authorized a liberal distribution of the 
Holy Scriptures in the Wisconsin and Iowa Territories, and in the 
States of Alabama and Louisiana — a measure which must probably bo 
frequently repeated to render the supply commensurate with the rap- 
idly-increasing population of those portions of the Republic. This in- 
crease is mainly produced by emigrants, not only from the Eastern and 
other states, but in great numbers from foreign nations. As not a few 
of these proceed from countiies where 'Hhe Bible without note or com- 
ment" is prohibited to the laity, all such should be cheerfully supplied 
with the blessed Book, and kindly assured that no prohibition of the 
kind can rightfully exist here, even by the highest national authority, 
much less by the interdict of any foreign power. 

The grant of English Bibles and Testaments to the " Schools for 
Young Slaves" in Santa Cruz, is an act of liberality happily calculated 
to efiectuate the humane intentions of the government in that island. 

Not less gratifying is the supply of copies of the New Testament af- 
forded to the soldiers stationed on the frontiers of our country, a raeas- 



APPENDIX G. 321 

tire corresponding with a former benevolent provision for the crews of 
our ships of war in actual service. 

The call from Ceylon and Lodiana for English Bibles and Testa- 
ments to supply the native schools, furnishes additional evidence of the 
increasing estimation in which our noble language is held by foreign- 
ers. It truly is a medium through which they may obtain access, not 
only to all the treasures of human learning, but also to the enjoyment 
of a version of the Holy Scriptures superior, it is believed, to every oth- 
er, and which has suffered no diminution of its high character by pre- 
sumptuovis attempts to amend it. 

I forbear to detain you by a particular reference to the operations of 
the board in Northern India, Syria, Russia, Turkey, or in relation to the 
aborigines of this continent; you will allow me, however, to express 
the joy, which I trust we all feel, at the prospect of diffusing "the light 
of the glorious Gospel" through the dark region of China. Whatever 
may have been the merits of her controversy with the Bintish govern- 
ment, we have reason to hope that, by the blessing of God, the late 
pacification has opened a w^ide and effectual door for the admission of 
divine truth to the many millions of her population. The cries of the 
desolate, my friends, are reaching us from various directions. As these 
multiply, so should our efforts to satisfy them increase, under a well- 
grounded confidence in Divine aid, and the support of a community 
who duly appreciate the exalted privileges they enjoy. The declara- 
tion of the apostle that " the time is short," is not less momentous now 
than when first announced. It is a deeply aflfecting truth to such as 
are perishing for the Bread of Life, and scarcely less so to those on 
whom are devolved the duty and the ability to furnish it. Of the same 
solenm truth we are admonished by the demise, since our last annivers- 
ary of two of our vice-presidents, the Honorable Peter A. Jay and 
Francis S. Key, in the midst of their days and their usefulness. The 
former a distinguished jurist, endowed with personal and mental ac- 
comphshments consecrated to a discharge of the duty he owed to his 
family, his country, and the Church of God. His attachment, as well 
as that of his illustrious father, to this Society, became identified with 
their affection for that sacred cause which sustained their pious ances- 
tors amid the terrors of persecution in their native land, and safely 
brought them to this asylum of the oppressed, with whom, we trust, 
they are now associated in the participation of "joy unspeakable and 
fuU of glory." 

The latter was a celebrated advocate, who, with high professional 
eminence, combined the spirit of humble and undissemiled piety. Al- 
though prevented by his remote residence and the labors of his profes- 
sion from attending oiu* regular meetings, his veneration, nevertheless, 



322 APPENDIX H. 

for tlie Sacred Volume was fully attested by his cherished and uniform 
practice of inculcating its precious and sublime truths upon the chil- 
dren and youth of a Sunday-school. We are assured that on the last 
Lord's day prior to his decease, he was thus religiously employed. De- 
lightful transition, from the Sunday-school to the upper sanctuary, to 
enjoy with glorified spirits " a Sabbath that shall never end !" 

It is among the mysteries of Divine Providence that I am allowed, 
at my advanced period of life, to pay even a faint tribute of respect to 
the memory of these excellent men, so much my juniors in age. To 
the same merciful Providence I earnestly commend your individual 
welfare and the prosperity of this sacred Institution. 



APPENDIX H. 

Address to the Litchfield County Temperance Society. 

The following extract is from an address before the Litchfield Coun- 
ty Temperance Society, at its first meeting in Sharon, July, 1829 : 

" Entire abstinence, then, is the specific remedy. Let it be univer- 
sally and faithfully applied, and O, how soon would there be an end 
of the whole race of drunkards, gi'eat and small, without successors 
forever ! Who would not rejoice at such a consummation ? Who 
would not exult, if our country, so favored of Heaven, so much ap- 
plauded by the world for all that is manly in sentiment and heroic in 
enterprise, should add the jewel of temperance to that crown of glory 
which encircles her head — should exhibit to mankind the sublime 
spectacle of a nation not only 'victorious over its enemies,' but, what is 
more, 'victorious over itself?' Nor is it too much to hope that this 
blessed era is at hand. The success which has thus far attended the 
exertions of the parent society, as evinced by the wonderful diminution 
in the sale and consumption of distilled spirits within a short period, is 
at once a proof that the object is attainable, and a pledge that it will be 
accomplished. The spirit of the nation is evidently rising. The youth 
of the nation are beginning to awake to this momentous subject, and 
rest assured, their warm hearts and vigorous hands will finish the good 
work for their own generation, if not for ours. But, my brethren, au 
immense responsibility rests upon ' the men of this generation.' Let 
us not conceal from ourselves the painful truth that we have all con- 
tributed in a greater or less degree to the wide spread of intemperance. 
Ah ! we know not how many of its wretched victims might justly as- 
cribe the commencement of their cai'eer of infamy and its fatal end 
to our ill-judged hospitality, our unhallowed love of gain, or perhaps to 
our example of what is termed moderate drinking. This is a most sol- 



APPENDIX I. 323 

emn reflection ! Our only consolation is that we did it ignoi-antly — that 
we were thoughtless of the consequences. But the plea of ignorance 
can no longer avail us. Information, founded on indisputable facts, and 
enforced with resistless eloquence, is before the public and in the pos- 
session of every man, and must therefore leave every man without the 
apology of a mistake, either as to the nature and extent of the malady, 
or the method and certainty of its cure. Let every individual then ask 
himself. Can I, with all this evidence before me, put the cup of distilled 
poison to my own lips, or present it to the lips of any human being, and, 
be innocentl The question may be safely left to the decision of an en- 
lightened conscience, and obedience to that decision can not fail to 
produce the desired result. Yes, my brethren, total abstinence is the 
only restorative. This is the consecrated censer which is to ' stay the 
plague.' While we bless God that it is placed within our reach, let us 
seize it, and, like Aaron in the camp of Israel, hasten to take our stand 
' between the dead and the living,' in humble confidence that ' the 
plague' will be ' stayed.' " 



APPENDIX I. 

Address to the Alumni of Yale College, at their annual meeting in 
August, 1845. 
I meet you, my brethren, on the present occasion, with no ordinary 
emotions. Those of us who received the honors of this venerable in- 
stitution more than sixty years ago, are pennitted by a kind Providence 
to commune with our successors on this consecrated ground, the 
object of our early reverence, and endeared to us by many, very many 
precious recollections. But with what diminished numbers do we ap- 
pear ! Rari nautes in gtirgite vasto. While we mourn the departure, 
and cherish the memory, of the gi-eat majority of our collegiate con- 
temporaries, let us bless God that we still live, and that, in his infinite 
goodness, he has suffered us to live, in a period of the world distin- 
guished by signal displays of his power and beneficence — a period fmit- 
ful of events bearing with mighty influence on the happiness and hopes 
of mankind. Allow me to refer for a few moments to Some of the in- 
cidents of our collegiate course. It occurred during the great contest 
for our national existence. We were not in a condition to engage in 
the hazards of the field, yet we were abundantly able to mark the 
progress of events with intense solicitude, and to participate- in the al- 
ternations of hope and despair, as victory or defeat attended its opera- 
tions. I have not unfrequently indulged myself in drawing a parallel 
between the straggle of the counti-y for independence, and ours for an 



324 APPENDIX I. 

education. With both, there was a lamentable deficiency of means for 
the prosecution of the enterprise. Were her soldiers poorly clad and 
as poorly fed? What was our clothing but principally the coarse 
fabrics of the domestic loom ? And as to sustenance, we were more 
than once, by the events of the war, dismissed and sent into the coun- 
try for subsistence. Was she inadequately supplied with arms and 
military stores ? We also were destitute, m a great measure, of the in- 
dispensable furniture of a college ; for, instead of the splendid array we 
now behold, if we except an air pump, the residue of our apparatus 
would be thought at this day better fitted to pi'ovoke merriment than 
to impart instruction. Should it then be asked how our country gained 
her independence, and we our degrees ? Let it be answered. She 
triumphed through the blessmg of Heaven upon the invincible spirit 
of her sons, led by her Washington, " himself a host." We prevailed 
by God's blessing upon our indefatigable efforts, under the auspices of 
the venerated Stiles, himself, as he said of another, "a living, walk- 
ing hbrary." From his rich stores of erudition he poured instruction 
into our minds, while by the dignity and loveliness of his deportment 
he took entire possession of om- hearts. I love to think of him. I re- 
joice that his memory is embalmed in a volume which does honor 
alike to his name and to our national literature. We had no resident 
professors except one of Theology ; but the deficiency was in a good 
degree supphed by tutors pre-eminently qualified for the station ; two* 
of whom, I am happy to perceive, still survive. There unfortunately 
existed at that period certain regulations of a peculiar desciiption, not 
found, probably, in the printed statutes of the college, but coeval with 
its existence ; such as the liability of freshmen to perform personal and 
menial services for members of a superior grade, and, in addition to 
other acts of humiUation, their subjection to the discipline of the senior 
class. Most happily, under the auspicious sway of the illustrious 
Dwight and his distinguished successor, and their justly celebrated as- 
sociates, we have seen this code of feudal homage and servitude wholly 
abolished, and the intercourse of the students regulated by the usual 
courtesies of civilized society. Under the same benign influence, the 
system of instruction has been greatly enlarged, embracing, indeed, 
every branch of knowledge appropriate to a university, with numerous 
professors, endowments, and all the appliances and facilities requisite 
for the attainment of a thorough, a finished education. Instead of a 
solitary building and adjoining chapel, occupied by us, we behold a 
range of edifices, which, for number, magnitude, location, solidity, and 
even beauty of construction, are mism-passed by any similar institution 
in our country; with appurtenant buildings devoted to chemical ex- 

■^ Hon. E. Goodrich and Hon. S. Baldwin, 



APPENDIX I. 325 

periments, to philosophical and astronomical exercises, to a mineralogi- 
cal cabinet, to the preservation and exhibition of the monuments of art 
which have immortalized the genius of Trumbull, and, lastly, this spa- 
cious and superb structure, for the accommodation of the respective 
hbraries appertaining to the college, the vv^hole constituting a highly 
ornamental appendage to this beautiful city. What privileges, denied 
to us, have been, and still are possessed by the more highly favored 
sons of our Alma Mater! We rejoice at the superior advantages af- 
forded them, and rightfaily expect in return a proportionate elevation 
of character for inteUigence and usefulness. 

I have said that it has been our lot to Hve in an age fruitful of events 
momentous in their bearing upon the present condition and future 
prospects of mankind. Time will not permit me to enumerate them. 
Suffer me, however, to say, we have witnessed revolutions for good or 
for evil unprecedented in the annals of our race, which have shaken 
two continents to their center, and the effects of which will be felt by 
remote generations. We have not only witnessed the birth of our na- 
tion, but have been permitted to mark its growth to dimensions which 
may well excite our own and the world's astonishment. 

We have beheld the rise and establishment of free institutions, and 
the evidence which experience affords that they are abundantly ade- 
quate to the government of an intelligent people, and, in truth, consti- 
tute the strongest of all governments. 

We have seen public opinion taking high rank as an elementary 
pinnciple of political science, and gradually advancing to a supremacy, 
which, if duly enlightened and wisely directed, must ultimately spread 
the empire of freedom over the whole earth. A theory, how^ever, 
which evidently demands the universal cultivation of pm-e religion and 
sound learning. 

We have witnessed a great enlargement of the boundaries of human 
knowledge, and the introduction, if not of new sciences, yet of new 
improvements, with their nomenclatures not a little startling, at first, to 
scholars of a former century, but eminently beneficial in their efTects. 

We have contemplated with unmingled satisfaction the advance- 
ment of the learned professions to a superior degree of respectability, 
and the attainment of high judicial distinction in the national and state 
tribunals, contributing essentially to elevate the character of the age. 

We behold the useful arts carried to a degree of perfection which 
utterly surpasses all former example, particularly as exhibited in the 
diversified and astonishing operations of steam, on land and water; 
and in the no less wonderful process by which electricity is converted 
into a vehicle of intelhgence ! We see lakes, and rivers, and seas, and 
widely-extended territories connected by artificial streams and rail- 



326 APPENDIX I. 

ways. We enter our mauufactoiies and workeliops, and admire the 
successful eiForts of genius in abridging the labor of man ; and when 
there, we cast our eyes on fabrics which are not excelled by the 
proudest displays of European skill ; and the thought forces itself upon 
our minds, how many of our sister states at the South owe, in no mod- 
erate degi-ee, the profitable cultivation of their staple production and 
main source of their wealth to the matchless ingenuity of a northern 
citizen, an alumnus of this college. 

Finally, in addition to the scientific, literary, mechanical, and other 
improvements of the present age, we have cheering evidence that it is, 
emphatically, the " age of benevolence." This heaven-born spirit has 
shown itself, not only in sympathy for the unfortunate, and a readiness 
to relieve them : not merely in charitable establishments, I had almost 
said, as. numerous and diversified as human sufferings — these offices 
of humanity, creditable as they unquestionably arc, have nevertheless 
been chiefly confined to our own country, and the bodily wants of a 
short life — but the spirit to which I allude has manifested its celestial 
origin in higher and holier efforts, in endeavors to promote alike the 
temporal and eternal interests of every being bom in the image of 
God, wherever he may be found. It is this broad and expansive prin- 
ciple now in operation, and encircling the globe, which inspires the 
philanthropist with new hopes, and imparts to the Christian sure evi- 
dence of the approach of that blissful period, which the eye of faith 
beholds with unerring certainty and unspeakable dehght. 

My brethren, to have lived in such an age forms of itself no unenvi- 
able distinction ; and to have discharged with fidelity its incumbent 
duties, must prove an unfailing source of the richest consolation. Let 
what remains of life to us, who are so near its close, be still devoted to 
the great end of our existence ; let our younger brethren justly appre- 
ciate their high privileges, with a full consciousness of then* correspond- 
ing obligations ; let us all cherish more and more the ties which bind 
us to this noble institution, and to each other, in the blessed hope of 
being finally united with the society of glorified spirits in the presence 
of God and the Lamb. 



APPENDIX K. 327 



APPENDIX K. 

i Obituary of Rev. Gilbert Livingston Smith. 

[From the New York Observer.] 

Departed this life, on Saturday, the 7th inst., at the house of his un- 
cle, Henry Beekraan, Esq., in this city, Gilbert Livingston Smith, son 
of William M. Smith, Esq., of Sharon, Conn,, in the 23d year of his age. 
The pro\ndence which has bereaved an affectionate circle of one of its 
brightest ornaments, has at the same time deprived the Church of one 
of her most promising sons. It is indeed a providence shrouded in the 
clouds and darkness which often envelop the throne of Infinite Wisdom. 
Nearly four yeai's ago, he became the subject of the regenerating grace 
of God, while at home during a college vacation, and on his return to 
New Brunswick made a public profession of his faith in Christ in the 
Presbyterian Church in that place. Soon after he experienced this 
happy change, his heart began to glow with an intense desire to preach 
" the unsearchable riches of Christ." After finishing his collegiate 
course, he entered the Theological Seminaiy at Princeton, where for 
three years he sustained the character of a faithful student and an ex- 
emplary Chiistian. A few months since he was licensed to preach, 
and few young aspirants for the sacred office gave higher promise of 
usefulness. Elegant in manners, conciliating in all his deportment, at 
interesting speaker, and a devoted Chiistian, all who knew him, anc 
especially those who hung vdth admiration upon the sweet intonations 
of his fine voice, and witnessed his ardent desire to do good, indulged 
the pleasing anticipation that he would be a burning and shining light 
in the candlestick of the Lord. Feeling the importance of a thorough 
theological course, he returned after his Licensure and finished his three 
years at Princeton. 

Having received an invitation to preach in Putnam county, he bade 
farewell to the beloved seminary, to enter upon his new field of labor ; 
and on his way, stopped at the house of Mr. B. to spend a night. Upon 
his amval he complained of partial indisposition, but very soon was 
confined to his bed by disease which baffled all the efforts of the best 
medical skill. The disorder marched on steadily to its consummation, 
heeding not the tears nor the prayers of friends, until the eveniug of 
the 7th, when " the earthly house of this tabernacle was dissolved," 
and his emancipated spirit took its flight to heaven. His mind, during 
the last days of his illness, was often wandering with delmum. Under 
these circumstances the writer saw him, a few hours before his depart- 
ure. Wishing to ascertain the workings of his soul,'he spoke to him 
about Jesus, and touched a chord which thrilled and concentrated all 



328 APPENDIX K. 

his powers. He expressed the most perfect submission to the divine 
will, and said, *' I should love to be with the Lord." From this time 
he gradually sunk until he fell asleep. Why the Lord of the harvest 
removed this promising laborer from the field, as he was just entering 
to reap it, is known only to Him whose are both the field and the reap- 
er. Our souls rejoice in the belief that what we know not now, we 
shall know hereafter, and bow without a murmur to the vnll of God. 
Blessed be his name for mingling in this cup of bitterness so many 
sweet mercy drops of consolation to surviving friends. 

" Thou art gone to the grave ; but 'twere wrong to deplore thee, 
When God was thy ransom, thy guardian, and guide ; 
He gave thee — He took thee, and soon will restore thee, 
Where death hath no sting since the Savior hath died." 



THE END. 



